The sprawling Merapi volcano, which overlooks the central Java city of Yogyakarta, erupted at about 2 P.M. local time, spewing gas and lava, raining ash over nearby towns and blackening the local sky. The agency said people had been admitted to hospital with burns to their heads, arms and legs. Hundreds of villagers and tourists around the volcano's foothills were being evacuated.
Merapi, or "fire mountain," is one of the world's most active volcanos. Its most destructive eruption was in 1930 when 1,300 people were killed.
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