Oktober 26, 2010

Merapi dust killed baby


Mount Merapi

October 26, 2010 (KATAKAMI / THE JAKARTA POST) --- A three-month-old baby died after experiencing respiratory problems after Indonesia's most volatile volcano Mount Merapi started erupting Tuesday afternoon in Muntilan, Central Java.

Muntilan General Hospital director Sasongko told journalists Tuesday evening that the baby died on the way to hospital.

“We have tried our best, it was just too severe a problem,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

The hospital was treating 10 people suffering from breathing difficulties.

About 11,400 villagers on the mountain were urged to evacuate. But most who fled were the elderly and children, while adults stayed to tend to homes and farms on the mountain's fertile slopes.

Scientists warned that pressure building beneath the volcano dome could trigger the most powerful eruption in years.