BNPB Deploys 170 Personnel to Evacuate Mt.Sinabung Victims
2 February 2014 14:44 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of Information and Data Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that several government institutions have joined hands to evacuate residents still living within the radius of three kilometers from Mount Sinabung.
According to Sutopo, the joint team consists of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), the Police, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and volunteers. "There are 170 personnel in total," Sutopo said earlier today.
In the evacuation effort, the team will use operational vehicles, which consist of seven trucks, two Mobile Brigade (Brimob) hagglund, four ambulances, and ten vehicles owned by Basarnas and BNPB. "Those vehicles are to support the evacuation process," he said.
Furthermore, Sutopo said the joint team will set up a post within the radius of five kilometers, situated in Gurukinayan village to be exact. The post is for the evacuation team to be on standby.
Sutopo further said that the joint team has continued to stay alert in the post while waiting for the recommendation from the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) in relation to the threat of hot clouds.
"If there are instructions to do something, the team will immediately move," he said.
Mount Sinabung sent hot clouds into the air for the first time in September last year. The clouds reached 700 degree Celsius and 4,500 meters away.
AMRI MAHBUB