Flights canceled as volcano erupts in Bali

A volcano erupted on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, causing some overnight flight cancellations to and from Australia as an ash cloud rose into the sky, officials said on Saturday.

Mount Agung volcano spewed out lava and showers of rocks over a distance of about 3 km (2 miles), with ash falling over dozens of villages, officials said. There were no reports of casualties.

The national disaster agency said Friday night’s eruption lasted four minutes and 30 seconds, spreading lava and incandescent rocks about 3km from the crater.

Nine villages experienced thick ash fall. But the agency said it wasn’t raising the alert level for the volcano and its exclusion zone remains a 4km radius around the crater.

The directorate general of air transportation said four flights to Bali were diverted and five flights out of the popular tourist destination were canceled because of volcanic ash.

Agung became active again in 2017 after more than a half-century of slumber following a major eruption in 1963.