Jokowi vows aid to rebuild

Reaching out: Jokowi talking to people at a makeshift evacuation centre in Sumberwuluh village in Lumajang. — AFP

THE country’s president visited areas devastated by a powerful volcanic eruption that killed at least 34 people and left thousands homeless, and vowed that communities would be quickly rebuilt.

Clouds of hot ash shot high into the sky and an avalanche of lava and searing gas swept as far as 11km down Mount Semeru’s slopes in a sudden eruption on Saturday triggered by heavy rain. Villages and towns were blanketed by tonnes of volcanic debris.