The number of evacuees rose on Saturday after Mount Sinabung in Tanah Karo district, North Sumatra, erupted for the third time in a week the day before. By 10.00 p.m., the number of evacuees sheltered at a number of areas in Kabanjahe increased 1,111 to 21,706 from 20,595 previously, ANTARA reported. Part of the new evacuees fled their home before the 2,640-meter-high Mount Sinabung erupted at 04.50 a.m. on Friday, Head of the Tanah Karo Communications and Information Service Jhonson Tarigan said on Saturday night. Thousands of the evacuees were transported to the refugee camps using trucks owned by the Tanah Karo district administration, he said. "The evacuees are being sheltered in a number of areas in Kabanjahe and Brastagi," Tarigan said. Mount Sinabung erupted for the first time in 400 years on Aug 29, causing over 25,000 residents to flee their homes to safer places. It erupted for the second time the following day, spewing thick volcanic ash, and cloud, and causing a three-minute long earthquake. Some of the evacuees had earlier returned home but were again evacuated on Friday morning when the volcano showed increased activities, just an hour before it erupted for the third time. Mount Sinabung is the highest mountain in North Sumatra and is located 110 km west of the provincial capital Medan.
