Thousands evacuated as Indonesia's Ruang volcano erupts

“Personnel of Manado Search and Rescue Agency are evacuating 109 Tagulandang residents to Munte port, while hundreds are still waiting in Minanga port to be evacuated,” the National Search and Rescue agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

The residents will be evacuated to North Minahasa Regency on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

Transport authorities extended Manado’s Sam Ratulangi airport shutdown until noon on Thursday.

Meanwhile, carrier AirAsia said in an Instagram post on Wednesday that flights to and from several cities in Malaysia’s Borneo were affected by the eruption.

Ruang island is about 100km from Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province in the north-central region of the sprawling Indonesian archipelago.

Indonesia straddles the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” an area of high seismic activity where multiple tectonic plates meet.

Reuters