Adisutjipto Airport Closed

Sleman, Yogyakarta, Feb 14 (Antara) - The operation of Adisutjipto International Airport of Yogyakarta was closed on Friday due to ash rain spewed by Mount Kelud located in Kediri, East Java. "The airport has been closed since the first flight at 05:55 am local time (GMT+7). All flights are all cancelled," Spokesperson of airport authority PT Angkasa Pura I of Adisutjipto Airport Faizal Indra said here Friday. The thick ash from Mount Kelud has covered Yogyakarta and some areas in Central Java. "The runway visual range dips to only 200 meters and it is very dangerous. The normal one is about 2,000 meters," he said. Moreover, according to plane technicians, the ash can damage the aircraft engine. "For the safety measure, all activity of the airport is closed today," he said. Mount Kelud in Kediri, East Java erupted on Thursday night producing molten lava and black smoke. The molten lava was seen clearly from the sub-district of Talun, in Blitar, East Java, around 15-20 kilometers from the mountain. Antara reporter from Blitar said people were running from their homes and some hitting electricity poles to alert others that the mountain had really erupted since 10.56pm local time.