Volcano prompts airlines to cancel Indonesia flights

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - International airlines fearful of volcanic ash canceled flights Saturday into Indonesia's capital, while the closure of airports nearest Mount Merapi has delayed the arrival of burn cream and ventilators for those whose skin and lungs were singed by searing gases.

The series of eruptions, including the deadliest in decades, has killed 138 people.

With nearby airports closed because of poor visibility, hospital officials said lots of supplies were stuck in Jakarta, about 280 miles from the volcano.

Indonesia's most volatile mountain unleashed nearly two billion cubic feet of gas, rocks and ash Friday that raced down its slopes at highway speeds, mowing down a slope-side village and leaving a trail of charred corpses in its path.

The volcano continued to rumble and groan yesterday, at times spitting ash up to five miles in the air, dusting windshields, rooftops and leaves on trees hundreds of miles away.

Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa and Etihad Airways also temporarily suspended flights, taking the national disaster international.

Flights to Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo and Hong Kong, as well as many regional destinations, were among those affected.

Domestic flights were running normally, except for those going to airports near the volcano that shut.

Tia Wanti, an information officer at the Jakarta airport, implied Saturday's move by airlines was premature, saying the dust wasn't causing problems either in the skies above the airport or on its runways. About 10 percent of the 1,200 flights Jakarta handles a day were canceled.

Merapi's latest round of eruptions began Oct. 26, followed by more than a dozen other powerful blasts and thousands of tremors.