A volcano erupted in Japan in very strange manner, on Saturday, injuring 11 people including seven who lost consciousness. Volcanic eruption took place on Mount Ontake with a sound like thunder, catching mountain climbers with surprise. People living on the mountain were forced to leave their hut making them homeless.
Mount Ontake began erupting just before noon and continued till night, covering the surrounding area with black hot ash. As a result, 250 people got trapped under the dark sky until evening. Most of the people safely went to their home, except few who didn’t want to walk on the path covered with hot ash. People who successfully made it to their home were covered thick layer of black ash. According to the latest updates, eight people got seriously injured including seven unconscious people and many more are feared to be injured.
In a YouTube video uploaded by one of the trapped person, climbers can be seen covered up under flying ash.
Click here to see the video.
Mikio Oguro, an NHK journalist who was on the slope on an unrelated assignment, told the station that he saw huge smoke coming out of the crater, blocking sunlight and reducing visibility to zero. “Massive ash suddenly fell, and the entire area was totally covered with ash,” he said by phone. He and his crew had to use headlamps to find a lodge.“My colleagues later told me that they thought they might die,” Oguro said.
Mt. Ontake is 3067 metres high and as a safety measure, routes of many flights were changed including two Jetstar flights going to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport diverted to Kansai International Airport in western Japan. Alert level for Mt. Ontake has been raised to three on a scale of zero to five, by Japan’s meteorological agency. Mount Ontake’s last minor eruption was noted in 2007, and major eruption was seen in 1976.
