Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano killed 11 people Friday morning in another huge eruption, a hospital source said, as the government widened the danger zone and ordered new evacuations.
"Eleven people were killed in the eruption early today. Fifty others are being treated for burn injuries from the heat clouds," said Banu Hermawan, a spokesman for Sarjito general hospital in Yogyakarta.
The latest deaths bring the total toll to more than 50 since the volcano in central Java started erupting on October 26.
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Government volcanologists said Friday's blasts were the biggest yet.
"This is the biggest eruption so far. The heatclouds went down the slopes as far as 13 kilometres (eight miles) and the explosion was heard as far as 20 kilometres away," volcanologist Surono said.
The exclusion zone was widened from 15 to 20 kilometres around the mountain and anyone living inside was ordered to evacuate their homes and shelters immediately, he said.
Some 100,000 people are already living in temporary shelters.
