Friday, June 16, 2006
Two men trapped in bunker were found dead!
Two men who sheltered from Indonesia's erupting Mount Merapi in an underground bunker were found dead from burns on Friday.The men fled to the steel emergency shelter on Wednesday when they were helping to evacuate a village during a burst of volcanic activity.The bunker was later covered with up to 2 metres (6 feet) of debris as hot as 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit).
Rescuers found the two bodies when they reached the opening of the steel bunker early on Friday, volcano relief operations officials said.Soldiers, wearing heat-retardant clothes, had been digging through volcanic debris on Thursday trying to reach the trapped people in the bunker which had been built for protection from volcanic eruption.
At the start of the rescue operation, officials had not known how many people had been trapped in the bunker."According to my information there are approximately three people, three local villagers, stuck in this bunker and we are trying to get them out," said rescue team leader Sugeng Triyono.Scientists had thought that the 3,000-metre (9,700-foot) volcano was calming down after weeks of activity, but the violent eruptions led to the re-evacuation of thousands of villagers and the government again put the peak on its highest alert level.
Reporters were prevented from travelling to the bunker, around 5 kilometres (8 miles) from the peak.The bunkers, several of which dot the slopes of Merapi, are typically equipped with water and food and emergency supplies of oxygen.
Rescuers found the two bodies when they reached the opening of the steel bunker early on Friday, volcano relief operations officials said.Soldiers, wearing heat-retardant clothes, had been digging through volcanic debris on Thursday trying to reach the trapped people in the bunker which had been built for protection from volcanic eruption.
At the start of the rescue operation, officials had not known how many people had been trapped in the bunker."According to my information there are approximately three people, three local villagers, stuck in this bunker and we are trying to get them out," said rescue team leader Sugeng Triyono.Scientists had thought that the 3,000-metre (9,700-foot) volcano was calming down after weeks of activity, but the violent eruptions led to the re-evacuation of thousands of villagers and the government again put the peak on its highest alert level.
Reporters were prevented from travelling to the bunker, around 5 kilometres (8 miles) from the peak.The bunkers, several of which dot the slopes of Merapi, are typically equipped with water and food and emergency supplies of oxygen.
# posted by kevin : 11:42 PM
