TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - According to Sigit, the Head of the Mount Ijen natural resource conservation, the recent poisonous smog spouting out of Mount Ijen’s crater was blown westward by the wind.
“The smog was swept by the Banyuapit flow and reached residential areas,” said Sigit this morning.
Mount Ijen’s deadly gas affected the Watucapil village, Curah Macan village, and Margahayu at Kalianyar village in the Bondowoso District. Two travelers passing by that were trapped in the smog was evacuated to Paltuding and Sempol community health center but was later referenced to the Bondowoso general hospital (RSUD).
The crater first spouted the gas at 07:45 PM local time, however on Thursday morning at 03:00 AM Sigit ascended to Paltuding and saw that the smog had disappeared. His team could only see signs of what was left of last night’s explosion on the surface of the lake.
Sigit decided to temporarily close Mount Ijen’s hiking route until he receives further information from the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG).
DAVID PRIYASIDARTA