About 500 people residing near Mount Lewotolok, Lembata district, abandoned their homes on Thursday amid the volcano's mounting activity, ANTARA quoted an official as saying. "Most of them left for the nearest city, Lewoleba. All related government officials will soon hold a coordination meeting to deal with the latest situation," Lembata Deputy Dsitrict Chief Viktor Mado Watun said here on Thursday. Viktor said although the government had not yet announced an evacuation plan, the local people had chosen to evacuate themselves due to the increasing activity of Mount Lewotolok over the past few days. "Black smoke columns are coming out of the mountain's crater, the air is filled with the smell of sulfur while rumbling sounds are heard around the mountain," he said. He said ten villages, namely Watodiri, Jantoka, Lebatukan, Lanulo, Waiwawaru, Lamu, Lewotolok, Bungamuda, Lamatute and Lawamara, were likely to be affected and suffer material losses if the volcano erupted. The Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) had since January 2 raised Mount Lewotolok's status to alert level after detecting an increase in its activity.
