Volcanic ash shuts Bali airport

Unpublished
Jakarta - Indonesian officials have shut the international airport in Bali for a second day, as Mount Agung spews volcanic ash into the atmosphere. Massive plumes of dark ash were seen reaching as high as 3km (2 miles) above the summit of the rumbling volcano, which began erupting last week. Officials raised the alert to the highest level on Monday, fearing an imminent major eruption. Up to 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the vicinity. Volcanic ash can damage aeroplane engines or even cause them to fail, and also clogs fuel and cooling systems. Pilot visibility can also be hampered. The Transportation Ministry initially closed the Ngurah Rai (Denpasar) airport on Monday morning for 24 hours, cancelling more than 400 flights and stranding 59,000 travellers. On Tuesday, they announced they would extend the closure to Wednesday 07:00 local time (00:00 GMT).(FA)

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