Villagers in Indonesia volcano zone ignore warnings

INDONESIA: Farmers journeyed high up the slopes of erupting Mount Merapi on Wednesday collecting grass for cows, while children kicked soccer balls in the shadow of its glowing peak - all of them ignoring warnings to immediately leave the area.

Villagers living closest to the peak show little sign of fear, perhaps because obvious signs of volcanic activity have declined since Monday when clouds of poisonous gas and lava shot out of the mountain's western flank.

"There is nothing to worry about here," said Warkijho, a 55-year-old farmer who like many in his village deep within a government-ordered evacuation zone has refused to leave. "The scientists may be concerned, but in my heart I know it is safe."

The highest-status alert remained Wednesday for the 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) mountain at the heart of Java island, and scientists cautioned that a lull in activity did not mean the danger was over. A 2.3 million cubic meter (3 million cubic yard) lava dome that has built up over the mountain's slow-burn eruption in recent weeks was still perched on the crater and could collapse, triggering a deadly surge in ash and gas, scientists said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday met with some of the more than 5,000 people who have fled the volcano and are staying in temporary accommodation such as converted schools. Yudhoyono and his wife stayed Tuesday night in a tent among the refugees.

Yudhoyono urged those still refusing to leave the evacuation zone to move to safety. Most of those refusing to go were farmers, and have crops to tend or animals to feed. Mount Merapi, which translates as "Fire Mountain," has erupted twice before in recent history, with deadly results.

In 1994, 60 people were killed by a searing gas cloud while in 1930, more than a dozen villages were incinerated, leaving 1,300 dead.

The volcano plays a central role in the mystic beliefs of villagers living on the fertile land on and around it. Many of them believe spirits watching over the volcano will warn them of danger.

An 80-year-old man entrusted by the nearby royal court to be the spiritual guardian of the volcano has been criticized because he has refused to evacuate, along with many people living in villages within a few kilometers (miles) of the crater.

Instead of going down the mountain, mystic Maridjan, hiked up it Tuesday morning to mediate and has not yet returned, his daughter and other villagers said Wednesday.

"I know what Dad is like," said Sulami. "He needs to do this, and God willing things will now be calm."

MOUNT MERAPI, Wednesday AP