KARANGASEM, INDONESIA ¨C Airlines laid on extra flights to Bali on Thursday to allow some of the thousands of passengers stranded by the eruption of Mount Agung to fly out, as a switch in wind direction sent volcanic ash away from the holiday island¡¯s airport.
Agung was partially shrouded by cloud on Thursday with parts of Bali lashed by monsoon rain, but according to officials there were persistent tremors from the crater.
¡°Mount Agung continues to erupt, ejecting volcanic ash up to 2,000 meters (6,500 ft) in height,¡± Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia¡¯s disaster mitigation agency, said via Twitter. Earlier in the week, Agung had ejected showers of rocks up to 4 km, he said. The reopening on Wednesday afternoon of Bali¡¯s airport, which is about 60 km (37 miles) away from Mount Agung, followed a downgrade in an aviation warning to one level below the most serious, with the arrival of more favorable winds.
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