Sumatra Volcano Eruption Engulfs Villages In Burning Ash [Video]

A Sumatra volcano eruption showered a village in lava, destroying it and killing at least 16 people.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, a supervolcano lurking beneath Yellowstone National Park has the devastating potential to destroy the entire United States. But the biggest supervolcano found so far is under the Pacific Ocean.

When the Mount Sinabung volcano erupted it spewed giant clouds of hot volcanic ash that have been engulfing entire villages in the Karo, Sumatra district. Photos from January show how streams of lava have been spilling out down one face of the mountain. Even the weather has played havoc with the area, forming multiple wind spouts in the surrounding areas.

Mount Sinabung has been erupting sporadically since September of last year, but conditions continue to worsen, forcing people to flee their homes in the area after the latest explosion. Just yesterday Sumatra’s volcano eruption resulted in 14 deaths, including four school children. Several others are in hospitals being treated for heat burns.

But as these scorching ash clouds have spread the death toll has continued to rise. Officials expect the numbers to keep going up but so far they’re having trouble finding even the bodies since they’re covered in inches of cloying ash. The worst hit villages have a full foot of ash or higher covering them like deadly grey snow.

Officials have set up a red zone where human activity is banned but disaster official Tri Budiarto says tourists are risking their lives to see the Sumatra volcano eruption:

“It’s very dangerous and completely out of bounds. But many of the tourists still secretly went to the area to take photographs.”

An Indonesian named only Gito describes how bad it has become in some of the villages:

“There’s no sign of human life. All the crops were gone. Many houses were damaged and those still standing were covered in thick white ash. It was hard to walk in ash which nearly reached my calves. We didn’t find bodies but we picked up a bag belonging to one of the victims. The cellphone was ringing.”

Sumatra volcano eruption is said to be something of a shock since Mount Sinabung has been dormant for 400 years before erupting in the fall of 2010. Due to the lull in volcanic activity many villagers had returned to their villages to check on their homes only to be surprised when it began spewing hot ash.