Merapi spews tremendous trauma

Dicing with danger: Motorists riding along a village road as Mount Merapi spews volcanic materials during its eruption in Agam, West Sumatra. The volcano spewed thick columns of ash as high as 3,000m into the sky while hot ash clouds spread several kilometres in a sudden eruption. — AP

Eleven hikers were found dead and another 12 were missing after a volcano erupted in Indonesia, with rescuers racing to carry injured and burned survivors down the mountain on foot.

Rescuers worked through the night to find dozens of hikers stranded on Mount Merapi on the island of Sumatra after it spewed an ash tower 3,000m (9,340 feet) – taller than the volcano itself – into the sky on Sunday.