Java Volcano Grows More Violent

The eruption of Indonesia's Mount Merapi grew more violent today, sending toxic gas clouds and burning rocks down its scorched flanks and threatening villagers below who refused to leave. Surges of clouds containing volcanic gas, rock fragments and other debris tumbled up to 2.5 miles down the western slopes of Merapi, or "fire mountain", almost hourly.

At least 200 local residents were defying the increasingly urgent warnings to evacuate, with many insisting that traditional mystical beliefs prevented them from fleeing. Holy men offered incense and other gifts in an attempt to placate the volcano's spirits.

The mountain in the heart of the densely populated island of Java has been rumbling for several weeks, spewing ash high into the air and pushing lava to the surface, forming a large unstable dome at its crater. On Saturday, authorities declared the peak the highest-category threat, triggering mandatory evacuations for some 4,500.

"I am panicking this time," said Katimi, a mother of three and one of thousands of people who boarded vans and trucks to seek shelter in mosques, government buildings and schools designated as evacuation centres. "Merapi appears angry," she said.

Hospitals and emergency clinics were preparing for the worst.

Around 60 people were killed in 1994 when a deadly gas cloud erupted from Merapi, the most active of 129 live volcanoes in Indonesia. Another 1,300 people died in a 1930 eruption.

"We are prepared for some of the things that we may deal with ... treating burn injuries caused by the hot clouds, and also treating broken bones," said Ning, the head of a local medical centre.

The clouds of ash, gas and debris, known as pyroclastic flows, are the biggest threat to local people, who are attracted to the mountain's slopes by the fertile volcanic soil. Temperatures in gas clouds can reach 900C, vulcanologists said. The blast was being monitored by satellite images

"They are like a glowing avalanche that just incinerate everything in their path," Lynton Jaques, from Australia's geoscience agency, said of the flows. "There is a real risk for people living on its flanks."

The blasts spewed volcanic material down the western slopes of Merapi, towards the town of Magelang and the Buddhist Borobudur temple. Neither site, nor the nearby provincial capital, Yogyakarta - with a population of 1 million - were in imminent danger, experts said.

"Only God knows what will happen; we can only ask for his protection," said Riskani, as her eight-year-old son played with toy trucks in a dusting of volcanic ash that fell on the village soon after dawn.

"If it gets worse, we will leave. But for now, we are staying in this village," she said.

Although most Indonesians are Muslim, many also follow animist beliefs and worship ancient spirits. At full moon, they may trek to the crater's rim to throw in rice, jewellery and live animals to appease the spirits of the volcano.

An 80-year-old man appointed by the nearby royal court as the spiritual guardian of Merapi said he was not leaving, even though his house is clearly within the mandatory evacuation zone.

"There is no risk," Maridjan said outside his home, four miles from the crater. "I am still waiting here."

Maridjan's refusal to go has angered local authorities in charge of evacuation efforts who complained that he is setting a bad example and stopping other villagers from leaving.

Some 18,000 people on the mountain's lowest slopes have not yet been ordered to leave, but could be in coming days.

The unstable lava dome, formed by magma forced to the surface, could suddenly collapse, sending a deadly gas cloud, scientists warn.

Locals call the clouds "Wedhus Gembel," or "shaggy sheep clouds", because they resemble tightly curled balls of wool as they avalanche down the mountain at speeds of more than 60 miles an hour.