Bali airport shut down as Mount Agung throws a column of smoke

(DENPASAR, INDONESIA) – The Indonesian tourist island of Bali closed its international airport on Friday, blocking thousands of travelers as Mount Agung volcano gushed from a column of smoke and ash from 2,500 meters.

The National Agency for Disaster Mitigation said that nearly 450 flights had been canceled, affecting some 75,000 people.

The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Australia reported that winds were blowing to the southwest. Volcanic ash is a potentially lethal threat to aircraft that can cause engine shutdown.

The volcano began erecting fumes on Thursday and several airlines canceled scheduled flights to and from the evening.

We had to find something else, just took a cab and went to a random hostel, "said a failed German backpacker who identified himself as Louisa." We were hoping to leave this morning, but the airport is closed, "she said.

Two small airports, in Banyuwangi and Jember, in East Java, also closed because of the threat of ash. has not been surveyed and an exclusion zone around the crater remains at 4 kilometers (2.5 miles).

The relief agency said that the airport closure of Bali is effective until 7 pm The volcano, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Kuta's tourist hotspot in Bali, experienced a major eruption in 1963, killing 1,100 people about

.Spectacular increase in activity last year, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, but s & # 39; was calmed at the beginning of this year. Authorities lowered its level of alert at the highest level in February

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 250 million inhabitants, sits on the Pacific "fire belt" and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Government seismologists monitor more than 120 active volcanoes.