Indonesians return to rumbling volcano

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

JAKARTA (AFP) — Hundreds of Indonesians evacuated from the slopes of a volcano began returning to work there Tuesday despite warnings it could still erupt, police and scientists said.

Mount Karangetang has been spewing lava and smoke since Friday, and authorities have said that searing clouds of debris could rush down its slopes at any time.

"It appears to have calmed down today (Tuesday). Last night there was still some booming but only once in a while, not like the continuous booms of previous days," said police officer Sutrisno.

He said the volcano on Siau island was still fuming but that most of the more than 500 people who had been evacuated from the two villages highest on its slopes had begun returning so they could work on their plantations.

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