Toll from volcano eruption in western Indonesia rises to 6

The death toll from the volcano eruption in indonesia's North Sumatra rose to 6 on Sunday, with 3 other people suffering from serious wounds.

All the victims were hit by hot ash in Gamber village located within dangerous zone of 6 to 7 km from the crater, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the national disaster management agency, said.

"There should be no people (within the zone), but some stayed in the village for economic reason as they were seeking to cultivate their farmlands,"he told Xinhua via phone.

"It is not clear how many villagers were in Gamber village when hot ash slid off the crater," Sutopo said.

Search operation for other possible victims resumed on Sunday morning involving about 300 rescuers from local search and rescue office, Zainul Tjahar, head of the provincial search and rescue office told Xinhua by phone from North Sumatra.

The operation also involves soldiers, policemen and volunteers, Sutopo said.

Mount Sinabung erupted four times on Saturday afternoon, spewing a column ash up to 3 km to the sky, with hot ash sliding off the west slope of the volcano up to 4.5 km, according to Sutopo.

The national volcanology agency has declared Mount Sinabung volcano on top alert level.

Sixteen people were killed and thousands were forced to flee home after the volcano erupted massively in February 2014.

Mount Sinabung is one of Indonesia's 129 active volcanos located on the vulnerable quake-hit zone called the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Source: XINHUA