Indonesia volcano: Volcano rescuers face ash as high as rooftops

Rescuers in Indonesia are searching for survivors in villages buried by hot ash, after Mt Semeru on Java island erupted on Saturday. Fourteen people are known to have died and dozens were injured, emergency authorities said. At least 11 villages in Lumajang, in East Java, were coated in volcanic ash. At least 56 people have been injured, with many suffering burns after they mistook the hot mud flow for flooding. The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) in Darwin, Australia said the ash cloud from the eruption appeared to have dissipated. The VAAC provides advice to the aviation industry about the location and movement of potentially hazardous volcanic ash. Ash that solidifies on cooler parts of plane engines can disrupt airflow, which can lead to engines stalling or failing completely. It also affects visibility for the pilots and can affect air quality in the cabin - making oxygen masks a necessity. Mt Semeru is in a near permanent state of eruption and regularly spews ash up to about 4,300m, so Saturday's eruption was a "pretty significant increase in intensity", Campbell Biggs, a meteorologist at the VAAC, told the BBC.<br/>