Indonesian Volcano Eruption Forces Evacuations, Airport Closure -- Reuters

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Greater Indonesia. By Gunawan Kartapranata - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16840665Greater Indonesia. By Gunawan Kartapranata - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16840665

JAKARTA, April 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia shut a provincial airport and evacuated hundreds of people from the vicinity of the Ruang volcano after it belched explosive plumes of lava, rocks and ash for days, officials said on Thursday, declaring the highest alert on the situation.

Wednesday's dramatic eruption of the volcano on a remote island in the province of North Sulawesi threw a fiery-red column of lava, incandescent rock and ash as much as three km (two miles) into the sky.

Purple flashes of lightning rent the sky above the erupting volcano, videos on social media showed.

More than 800 people were evacuated from the area, with authorities widening the evacuation zone further after the volcanology agency raised the alert status.

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