Indonesia volcano catapults vast ash tower into sky

A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted again on Saturday, sending a giant ash tower nine kilometres (more than five miles) into the sky, days after it killed nine people and forced thousands of locals to evacuate.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores, has erupted more than a dozen times this week, killing nine people after its initial burst on Monday.

"The ash column was observed at approximately 9,000 metres above the summit. The ash column appeared grey with thick intensity," the country's volcanology agency said in a statement about the eruption that began at 04:47 local time (2047 GMT).

There were no immediate reports of damage to nearby villages from Saturday's fresh eruption.

But the agency warned residents to "remain alert to the potential for cold lava floods" due to heavy rainfall.

On Friday, another huge eruption forced officials at a nearby monitoring post to evacuate as ash and small rocks rained down.

The mountain on Thursday spewed an ash tower eight kilometres high, which locals said was one of the biggest they had ever seen.

More than 10,000 people have been affected by the eruptions, with officials telling locals to permanently relocate from an eight-kilometre exclusion zone.

The head of Indonesia´s disaster mitigation agency said authorities would temporarily house and fund locals while new homes were built.

"Since the preparation and planning process for relocation takes time, we hope we can build them quickly," said Suharyanto, who goes by one name, on a visit to a shelter Friday.

Laki-Laki, which means "man" in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for "woman".

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire".