Ash from Indonesia’s Marapi volcano forces airport to close and stops flights

By RAHMA NURJANA
Associated Press

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Volcanic ash spewing from Indonesia’s Mount Marapi has shut down airports and blanketed nearby communities on Sumatra island. The nearly 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) volcano in West Sumatra province is about 113 kilometers (70 miles) north of Minangkabau International Airport On Dec. 3, Marapi shot thick columns of ash as high as 3 kilometers (more than 9,800 feet) that killed 23 climbers and injured several others who were caught by a surprise weekend eruption. Smaller eruptions since then spewed more ash into the air, and on Friday the volcano began belching ash that reduced visibility hundreds of kilometers away, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.