1st LD Writethru: Indonesia briefly shuts Bali airport as Mount Raung eruption persists

Indonesian transport ministry has opened again operation of Bali International airport in Indonesia after being closed for about 2 hours on Wednesday due to eruption of Mount Raung in East Java, official said.

The ministry closed the international airport at the country's tourism center of Bali, about 150 km from the volcano, at about 12: 30 p.m. Jakarta time as the wind blew very fast and brought the volcanic ash to the southeast and south of the crater, said J.A. Barata, spokesman of transport ministry.

"The airport has been closed for 2 hours and was reopened at 14: 30 p.m. Jakarta time," he told Xinhua by phone.

The closing "is because the wind blew very fast. We still intensively and carefully monitored the safety in aviation," Barata added.

Two other airports, Blimbingsari airport in Banyuwangi district and Hadinotonegoro airport in Jember district, remained closed, said the spokesman.

Bali Ngurah Rai airport had been closed from July 9 to 11 along with four other airports due to eruption of the volcano, leaving thousands of foreign tourists stranded in the resort island and other cities.

Mount Raung near Banyuwangi district, which has been back to life since June 29, shot column of ash up to 2,000 meters into the air on Wednesday and spread to southeast and south of the crater, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency said.

"The frequent of tremor with higher energy keep rising. Volcanic ash rained Jember district and its surrounding areas," he told Xinhua by phone.

The authority has banned those flights from entering the slope by up to 3 km from the crater as the alert status of the volcano has been lifted to the second highest.

Indonesia has been watching closely the eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra and Mount Gamalama in North Maluku.

The volcanoes are also among the 80 volcanoes monitored regularly in the archipelago country with about 17,500 islands. Endi