Bali airport reopens amid fears

It had been closed since Monday due to volcanic ash

KARANGASEM, Indonesia - The airport on the Indonesian resort island of Bali reopened on Wednesday after an erupting volcano forced its closure, but the country's president said the danger had not passed and urged anyone within the mountain's exclusion zone to get out "for the sake of their safety".

Volcanic ash reaching 7,600 meters began drifting south and southeast of Mount Agung, leaving clean space above the airport for planes to land and take off, said airport spokesman Arie Ahsannurohim.

Operations resumed after shutting down on Monday, disrupting travel for tens of thousands of people trying to enter or leave the popular vacation destination. Thick ash particles are hazardous to aircraft and can choke engines.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo ordered all concerned ministries and agencies, as well as the military and police, to help Bali's government deal with the disaster.

Authorities have told 100,000 people to leave an area extending up to 10 kilometers in places from the volcano as it belches gray and white plumes. Nearly 40,000 people are now staying in 225 shelters, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency in Karangasem.

But tens of thousands more have remained in their homes because they feel safe or don't want to abandon their land and livestock.

In the village of Tulamben inside the exclusion zone, farmers were seen plowing their fields with cattle on Wednesday, seemingly unbothered by the smoking mountain behind them swelling with orange lava.

For others, there was a sense of urgency.

Some stranded tourists managed to get off the island before the airport reopened, but they faced an arduous journey involving crowded roads, buses, ferries and sometimes overnight waits in yet another airport in Surabaya on the island of Java.

"This is a very unforgettable experience for us. So much hassle and definitely one for the books," said Sheryl David, 31, a tourist from Manila, Philippines, who arrived on Saturday in Bali with three friends and was supposed to leave on Tuesday. She remained stuck in a third airport on Wednesday in the capital, Jakarta, waiting for a flight home that required buying a new ticket, but said the experience didn't dampen her feelings about the island.

"Yes, still a paradise," she texted.

More than 200,000 foreign visitors come into Bali resort island per month, according to the national statistics bureau.

The volcano's last major eruption, in 1963, killed about 1,100 people.

Ap - Xinhua

(China Daily 11/30/2017 page12)