Bali airport reopens after 12-hour closure

Bali's international airport reopened on Friday after it was closed for around 12 hours, following the eruption of Mount Agung, which spewed a cloud of ash up to 2,500 metres into the air.

"Operations should be back to normal soon. Please stay updated for further information," airport authorities had tweeted.

The eruption of Mount Agung affected 446 flights, including 207 international ones and stranded over 74,000 passengers in Bali as well as in other airports in East Java, Efe news reported.

Agung, which is located in East Bali, has erupted several times since last year.

In November, volcanic activity at Agung had forced the closure of the airport for several consecutive days, leading to the evacuation of around 30,000 people.

It had also affected the influx of visitors to the tourist island of Bali, which recorded a footfall of over five million foreign tourists -- who flew to the island -- in 2017, according to the operator of the airport.

The last major eruption of the volcano occurred in 1963 and had lasted a year, killing over 1,000 people.

The Indonesian archipelago sits within the so-called Ring of Fire in the Pacific, an area of great seismic and volcanic activities that records thousands of mostly-small to moderate tremors every year.

--IANS

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