MOUNT MERAPI - Rescuers scoured the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano for survivors yesterday after an eruption killed at least 30 people, including an old man who refused to abandon his post as caretaker of the mountain's spirits.
Villagers were warned not to return during a lull in volcanic activity but many made their way home yesterday, saying they had to tend to their crops and protect their possessions.
A Reuters cameraman at Kinahredjo said he saw victims being brought down from the mountain in body bags. Houses in the village had been destroyed.
In several areas, everything - from the thinnest tree branch to couches and chairs inside homes - was caked with ash that looked like powdery snow.
The latest blast on Tuesday night eased pressure that had been building up behind a lava dome perched on the crater but experts warned the dome could still collapse.
"It's a little calmer today," said Mr Surono, chief of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. "But a lot of energy is pent up back there. There's no telling what's next."
Dr Teguh Dwi Santosa, a doctor at a local hospital, said that the death toll climbed to 30 yesterday and 17 people had been hospitalised, mostly with burns, respiratory problems and other injuries.
Among the dead was Mr Maridjan, an 83-year-old man who had been entrusted by a highly respected late king to watch over the volcano's spirits.
"We found his body," said Mr Suseno, a rescue worker, amid reports that the old man was found kneeling face-down on the floor, a typical prayer position.
Mount Merapi, which translates as "Fire Mountain", has erupted many times over the last 200 years, often with deadly results. In 1994, 60 people were killed, while in 1930, more than a dozen villages were incinerated, leaving up to 1,300 dead.
Indonesian news portal Okezone quoted the manager of Yogyakarta's Adisucipto International Airport as saying that flights had not been disrupted by the ash cloud. Agencies
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