By Rochimawati
NORTH SUMATRA, Indonesia
Flights continue to be cancelled at Indonesia's second largest airport Sunday as a volcano on one of its flight paths threatened to erupt.
Dewandono Prasetyo, a spokesman for Kuala Namu Airport in North Sumatra, told The Anadolu Agency that "Airlines did not dare cross the top of Mount Sinabung because it was still emitting heat clouds."
Since October 9, flights over the area have been cancelled while earthquakes and tremors continue to rock the nearby region. Meanwhile, the volcano continues to spew ash around 2,000 meters into the air.
"The potential of eruption is likely," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the head of data and information at the country's National Disaster Management Agency told the AA.
A total of 100,000 dust masks have been distributed to nearby villages, and schools have been temporarily closed.
Nugroho said that the threat had seen more than 19,000 people moved from their homes, around 6,000 of whom are now in temporary housing.
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