Balinese officials have urged tourists to keep visiting the uber-popular holiday destination, despite concerns an eruption of volcano Mt Agung is imminent.
A statement from the Balinese Tourism Office says “the resort island was considered safe,” apart from the 12km exclusion zone enforced around the volcano.
“Bali tourism is safe,” said A.A. Gede Yuniartha Putra, head of the Balinese Tourism Office.
“Do not spread the misleading news that Bali is not safe because Mount Agung is on the highest alert status. Please, come and visit Bali.”
A few more pictures of Mt. Agung taken earlier this afternoon while driving through evacuation area. #agung #volcano #Balivolcano pic.twitter.com/4xAT2QuHhT
— wolfofbroward (@wolfofbroward) September 27, 2017
It’s believed that should Mt Agung erupt, the exclusion area will be susceptible to devastating lava flows and dangerous gases.
Sadly, the situation isn’t looking great: Indonesia’s Volcanology Centre has reported Bali is experiencing never-bef0re-seen levels of seismic activity, which could prompt an eruption
Up to 60,000 travellers are reportedly still passing through the island’s Ngurah Rai airport daily, but authorities say they’re prepared to divert flights to nine other airports should volcanic ash be detected.
However, Smartraveller advises that volacnic ash from an eruption could also impact flights scheduled for Denpasar, Lombok, and East Java.
As many as 96,000 people have fled the exclusion zone surrounding Mt Agung, located in Bali’s eastern region. Tourists in the vicinity have also told Australian media they’ve been told to leave.
Check the Smartraveller site for up-to-date info, and stay safe over there.
