JAKARTA, Sept. 6 — Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the evacuees of volcano eruption in Sumatra Island on Monday, giving financial assistance and some of the evacuees have returned homes, officials said.
Over 2,400-meter-Mount Sinabung in Karo district of North Sumatra province erupted on Aug. 29 after over 400 years of dormancy and followed by two eruptions, spewing ash and smoke by up to 3,000 meters high and forcing over 28,000 people to flee homes.
During his visit President Yudhoyono gave over 3 billion rupiah (some 330,000 U.S. dollars), as financial assistance to volcano evacuees, official of Presidential palace D.J. Nachrowi told Xinhua over phone from Karo district.
Some internally displaced persons have already returned homes as the latest figure of the evacuees reached about 23,800 people on Monday, lower than the 28,000 people during the peak last week, official at the national Disaster Management Agency named only Arlena told Xinhua by phone.
Indonesian Volcanology Agency has not downgraded the top alert status of Mount Sinabung, head of the agency named only Surono has said. (PNA/Xinhua)
LOR/ebp