At least one person was killed and 41 others injured in the blast, officials said, adding that the blast covered villages in ash and saw people fleeing through clouds of ash and debris.
According to Inda Amperawati, deputy chief of Lumjang district, at least 300 families were evacuated after an area erupted close to the volcano.
He said most of the scorched victims were taken to the Penanggal Primary Health Center along with a resident who died in Kura Kobokan village.
Indah told a press conference that the authorities were unable to reach many other villages due to muddy roads and fallen trees.
National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) chief Major General TNI Suharyanto said in a press conference that the support and equipment of the personnel has been sought from the Army.
Budi Santosa, the head of disaster management for East Java province, said earlier on Saturday that two sub-districts had been “severely affected” by the volcano’s eruption.
The smell of volcanic ash and sulfur was the first The Mount Semeru Volcano Observation Post reported that was reported at 3 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). It said clouds of hot ash were falling towards Sapitrang, an East Java village in Pronojivo district.
Videos shared by government emergency response teams showed residents of the area running through huge thick clouds of ash.
Other footage shared by locals showed people gathering at a local mosque in Besuke Kobokan as blankets of ashes and smoke covered nearby streets.
Santosa told the news conference that he believed health facilities in the disaster area, whether primary health centers or hospitals, would be able to accommodate victims.
His team is trying to evacuate and prepare refugee camps in the area, which will provide food, masks, blankets and shelter for displaced residents.
Indonesia sits between two continental plates known as the Ring of Fire, a band around the Pacific Ocean basin that leads to high levels of tectonic and volcanic activity.
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