Force of Nature: A pyroclastic flow of hot gas, ash and rock roars down the side of Mt Merapi in Central Java on Friday. The rumbling volcano killed 36 people when it erupted on Tuesday and on Saturday morning burst into life once again. Full story below.

HARGOBINANGUN Mount Merapi volcano erupted violently early on Saturday, sparking chaos as people tried to scramble to safety, fearful of a repeat of this week’s deadly explosions. The loud blast at around 1am sent soldiers and police posted near the volcano fleeing, along with hundreds of locals, who quickly clogged roads with cars and motorcycles. [...]

SLEMAN Mount Merapi, which killed 32 people earlier this week, erupted again on Thursday, spewing ash and deadly heat clouds, an official said. Government volcanologist Surono said hot gas and ash spewed from the mouth of Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano. “We registered a small volcanic tremor. The threats are still there,” he said. [...]

JAYAPURA Five police on a mission to help flood victims in Papua were killed on Thursday when their plane crashed into a tree during an emergency landing, police said. The aircraft crashed in Nabire district of Papua province, police spokesman Wachyono said. “Five police were killed in the accident. The airplane hit a tree while [...]

JIMBARAN Immigration officials were left red-faced and thrown into panic after 22 refugees from Afghanistan managed to escape a new detention facility at Jimbaran. The illegal immigrants fled their holding cells on October 18 by breaking through a glass window and leaping over a low fence that was not secured with barbed wire, the centre’s [...]

PADANG The death toll from a tsunami that pummelled remote islands off Sumatra soared to 311 on Thursday as questions mounted over whether an elaborate warning system had failed. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was heading to the disaster zone, where fears were growing for hundreds still missing after huge waves triggered by a powerful earthquake [...]

Not So Good: As foreign investment rises in the tourism sector, Bali’s roads have become clogged with trucks ferrying sand and limestone to construction projects. An apparently brake-less truck went out of control in the Bukit area earlier this month, slamming into shops and killing six people. (Photo: The Bali Times/Juliyusman Sine)

BENGKULU At least 272 people were killed and another 412 remain missing after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami in off Sumatra, an official said on Wednesday. “We’ve recovered 272 bodies. At least 412 people are still missing,” West Sumatra provincial disaster management official Ade Edward said. “We’re still looking for those missing. They could [...]

At least 154 people were killed and another 400 remain missing after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami off Sumatra, an official said on Wednesday. The quake struck late on Monday off the coast of western Sumatra, sending a three-metre wall of water into a remote island chain where several villages were flattened. “At least [...]

Deadly Volcano: Mt Merapi in Central Java as seen from a passing NASA satellite. The volcano erupted three times on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people in a twin disaster to hit Indonesia following a tsunami off Sumatra that left 108 people dead and hundreds missing. Full report below.

BENGKULU At least 108 people were killed and more than 500 were missing after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit the Mentawai islands off Sumatra, an official said.

JAKARTA Twenty-three people are dead and 167 missing after a powerful earthquake hit parts of Sumatra, an official from the Disaster Management Agency said on Tuesday. The quake struck late on Monday near the Mentawai islands off the west coast of Sumatra, triggering tsunami waves. “Twenty-three people were killed in the Mentawai islands. One hundred [...]