Volcano spews more hot ash, lava in east Indonesia

This photo taken on August 11, 2013 with a camera phone shows evacuees from Palue island arriving at the port of Maumere after being rescued from the disaster area where Mount Rokatenda volcano is erupting. AFP

MAUMERE — A volcano on a tiny Indonesian island is spewing more hot ash and lava after causing six deaths over the weekend.

Command post official Mutiara Mauboi says more than 500 Palue island residents who earlier refused to leave the 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) exclusion zone around Mount Rokatenda have been evacuated to neighboring Flores island. She says the search for the bodies of two children killed in an eruption early Saturday has stopped.

Government volcanologist Surono says the volcano’s eruptions were smaller Monday but the potential danger remains high because the volcano is releasing hot gas clouds. He says molten lava and ash have covered most of Palue island in East Nusa Tenggara province.

The island in eastern Indonesia has only a 4-kilometer radius.