Eight Indonesian airports remain shut due to Volcano uncertainty

Eight Indonesian airports, including two serving Jakarta, remained closed early Monday morning because of volcanic ash from eruptions at Mount Anak Krakatau, the transport minister said.



Ash from Anak Krakatau, which sits halfway between Java and Sumatra islands, has blanketed Jakarta and several surrounding areas since it erupted late on Friday, leading to the closure of the airports for safety reasons.



The transport ministry said 170,000 people have been affected by flight cancellations.



Jakarta's main airport will remain closed until 6 p.m. local time Monday.



According to the transport minitry "We cannot ascertain when this will end due to the dynamic weather," adding that the seven other airports, which included the ones serving Jakarta's nearby provinces of Lampung and West Java, would remain closed until further notice.



The volcano monitoring agency's website showed the most recent Anak Krakatau eruption occurred Sunday at 8:23 p.m local time.



The agency warned on Monday that "the probability of further eruptions in the coming periods remains high."



The eruptions have seen ash reach as high as 6,000 metres on the Java side of the volcano and 15,000 metres on the Sumatra side and some parts of Banten province in Java, meteorological agency BMKG posted on its website.