Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupts spewing lava and gas and blanketing nearby towns in hot ash

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Indonesia's Mount Merapi has erupted, sending clouds of hot ash and gas high into the air and flows of lava down its slopes.

The volcano, on the densely populated island of Java, unleashed rocks and other debris down its southwest side several times on Sunday.

Mount Merapi is Indonesia’s most volatile volcano and has seen increased activity in recent weeks, with its lava dome growing rapidly before partially collapsing.

There were a series of fast-moving pyroclastic flows – a volcanic phenomenon includes turbulent and hot avalanches of hot lava rocks, ash and volcanic gasses mixed together – after the eruption started at around 5am local time (11pm Saturday BST).

The volcano sent hot ash a kilometre into the sky and clouds of gas up to three kilometres down its slopes.

Hanik Humaida, head of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre in the city of Yogyakarta, said ash from the eruption had blanketed several villages and nearby towns.

The rumbling sound could be heard several kilometres away and people living nearby were warned about the danger of lava, but there were no casualties reported.

People living on the volcano’s slopes were told to stay at least five kilometres away from the crater’s mouth, Indonesia’s Geology and Volcanology Research Agency said.

The 2,968-metre volcano’s last major eruption was in 2010, when 347 people died.

In January, Mount Merapi erupted 30 times in a single day, again prompting lava flow fears.

Additional reporting by agencies