The Wireless

Volcano kills atleast16

08:03 am on 3 February 2014

Sixteen people are dead after a volcano erupted on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, engulfing nearby villages with hot ash and rocks on Saturday.

Mount Sinabung has been active with low-level eruptions for months and on Saturday spewed lava, rocks and gas into the air.

An emergency official says schoolchildren from a group on a sightseeing trip are among the dead. Rescue workers were recovering bodies buried in ash.

Thousands were evacuated in September when Mount Sinabung erupted after being dormant for three years. Many were allowed back to their homes on Friday.

When the volcano erupted in 2010, at least two people were killed and 30,000 others were displaced. Before then, Sinabung had not erupted in 400 years.