Indonesia volcano: Seven people killed by pyroclastic flow as Mount Sinabung erupts

Two more in a critical condition as officials warn of further eruptions

Mount Sinabung (AFP/Getty)

Seven people have been killed after a volcano erupted in western Indonesia.

Mount Sinabung, a highly active volcano, began a series of new eruptions on Saturday blasting up to two miles into the sky with ash tumbling westward down the slopes for three miles into a river.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said: "Nine people were struck by the hot clouds.

“Six died, and three others remain critical with burns.”

Officials confirmed a seventh person died in hospital on Sunday and two more remain in a critical condition.

Mr Nugroho said soldiers, police and rescuers from disaster aid agencies had joined forces with volunteers and villagers in a search of the area but it had now been halted after no more victims had been found in the danger zone.

All the victims had been working on their farms in the village of Gamber, about 2.5 miles from the slope within the “red zone” danger area.

The “red zone” is an area of around Sinaburg declared off limits by the Indonesian Government for safety reasons.

Mr Nugroho said: "It is not known exactly how many people were in Gamber village when the hot clouds descended.”

But he warned of the potential high risk of further eruptions, adding: "There shouldn't have been any public activity [within the red zone]."

Soldiers had set up roadblocks early on Sunday around the area and some villagers were prevented from entering to reclaim their abandoned belongings.

Footage of the scene revealed dead and injured animals scattered on the ground around scorched homes and smoking vegetation

There was also evidence of a fast-moving cloud of hot volcanic gases, rocks and ash in the village.

Mount Sinabung is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin.

It had been dormant for four centuries before erupting again in 2010, killing two people.

A second eruption in 2014 took 16 lives.