Five Hospitalized After Sinabung Eruption

Kabanjahe (Antara Bali) -  Five people have to be hospitalized in the North Sumatra city of Kabanjahe after the eruption of Mount Sinabung on Sunday.

Jhonson Tarigan, a spokesman of the Sinabung Disaster Control Agency said the five people suffered difficulty in breathing after inhaling volcanic ashes.

Their condition, however, is not serious but they need medical care, Johnson said here on Monday.

He said Kabanjahe, which is located 22 kilometer away from the volcano is not as bad as Berastagi , a mountain resort city in the same Tanah Karo regency.

All buildings and cars running  or parked on the streets of Brastagi, which is only 10 kilometers from Mount Sinabung are blanketed  with volcanic ashes , he said.

All people in Berastagi have to wear masker,  and most shops and offices are closed, he added.

Data at the disaster control agency showed that by Monday, 4,739 people have been evacuated to refugee camps  , churches and mosques.

The volcano erupted on Sunday afternoon spewing volcanic matters including sulfuric  rocks .

"Rains of hot sulfuric rocks as big  as maize corns hit the village of  Berastepu, in the sub-district of  Simpang Empat for two hours," a villager Norman Sitepu  said here on Monday. (*/DWA)