Heavy rains and cold lava flowing from Mount Marapi triggered flash floods on Indonesia's Sumatra island, claiming the lives of at least 37 people with more than a dozen others missing. The disaster occurred late Saturday night, inundating mountainside villages in four districts of West Sumatra province.
Monsoon rains, combined with a major mudslide from cold lava flow, caused a river to breach its banks, sweeping away people and submerging over 100 houses and buildings. Cold lava, also known as lahar, is a mix of volcanic material and pebbles that flows down a volcano's slopes during rainfall.
Rescuers retrieved 19 bodies from the worst-hit village of Canduang in Agam district and recovered nine more in the neighboring Tanah Datar district. Additionally, eight bodies were found in Padang Pariaman, and one in Padang Panjang. Efforts are ongoing to locate 18 missing individuals.
The flash floods also blocked main roads around the Anai Valley Waterfall area, hampering access to other cities. Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency depicted roads transformed into murky brown rivers.
This disaster follows heavy rains two months prior, which triggered flash floods and landslides in the same region, resulting in fatalities and missing persons.
Mount Marapi, standing at 2,885 meters (9,465 feet), erupted late last year, claiming the lives of 23 climbers. The volcano has remained at the third-highest alert level since 2011, indicating above-normal volcanic activity. Marapi's eruptions are challenging to predict due to its shallow source near the peak, and they are not typically caused by deep magma movements.
Indonesia, home to over 120 active volcanoes, is susceptible to seismic events due to its location along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an area characterized by volcanic activity and tectonic movement.
