Indonesia Volcano Eruption Grounds Flights and Strands 270,000 Passengers
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Some 270,000 passengers have been left stranded across Indonesia after a volcanic eruption grounded more than 2,000 flights and forced airports to suspend operations for a second day.
Anak Krakatau, located 150km (90mi) from Jakarta, began erupting late on Friday, producing lava fountains and sending volcanic ash into the capital and the Lampung province. It stayed seismically active throughout the weekend.
Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International and three other airports have extended closures until 18:00 local time on Monday after volcanic ash was detected in airspaces near them.
Schools in the region moved classes online while some shipping operations were also disrupted.
Image source: Reuters
Image caption: Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International and three other airports have extended closures until 18:00 on Monday.
Snaking queues formed at the departure halls in Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday as stranded passengers sought refunds and tried to get updates on when they would be able to fly.
A newly wed Malaysian couple, who had just spent a week in Bali, said they were told that the next flight back to Kuala Lumpur wouldn't be until 11 September.
"What are we going to do here for another five days? We only prepared enough money for our honeymoon and [were supposed] to go home yesterday," Amir Hamzah told Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.
"We thought we would just sleep at the airport for a few hours and then take the morning flight home [on Monday]. We never thought we would end up being stuck here for days," the 29-year-old said.
Suhardi, 58, was due to travel from Jakarta to Lampung for work.
"This is nature, after all. So I have to accept it, because when it comes to nature, there's no choice. Now I'm just waiting for the next update from the airline," he tells Reuters news agency.
On Monday, Indonesia's Geological Agency warned that "the probability of further eruptions in the coming periods remains high".
Volcanic ash reached as high as 6,000m on the Java side of the volcano and 15,000m on the Sumatra side and in some parts of Java's westernmost province Banten, the meteorological agency BMKG said.
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