Monday, August 12, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Burma Awards Contracts to Build, Expand International Airports

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 05:06 AM PDT

A view of the main building at Yangon International Airport. (PHOTO: Reuters)

RANGOON — Burma has awarded contracts to expand two existing airports and build a new international airport, amid the growing demands of tourism in a country which expects to see annual foreign arrivals rise from about 2 million to 7 million by 2020.

A contract to expand Burma's main international airport, Yangon International Airport, has been awarded to a consortium led by Pioneer Aerodrome Services Co., an affiliate of the major Burmese conglomerate Asia World, which is run by Steven Law, who is still on the US sanctions list.

Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing, is the son of the recently deceased Burmese drug kingpin Lo Hsing Han. US companies are forbidden from doing business with him due to his connection to Burma's former military regime and involvement in the illicit drug trade.

Malaysian and Singaporean companies are also part of the consortium to expand the airport near Burma's biggest city and commercial capital, Rangoon.

Apart from Yangon International Airport—which currently has a capacity to handle 2.7 million passengers annually—a new international hub will be built by South Korea's state-run Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC).

The new hub, Hanthawaddy International Airport, will be built in Pegu, about 50 miles northeast of Rangoon. The airport is expected to handle 12 million passengers a year, according to South Korea's transport ministry.

On Sunday, the ministry said in a statement that the final contract for the Hanthawaddy project—worth over US $1 billion—would be signed at the end of the year. The facility will be finished by 2018 and will be the country's second-biggest international airport, according to Burma’s Department of Civil Aviation.

Meanwhile, a consortium of Mitsubishi Corp., Japan Airlines Corp. and SPA Project Management Ltd. won a contract on Saturday to repair and operate an international airport serving Mandalay, Burma's second-biggest city.

Established in 2000, the existing Mandalay airport is currently a domestic aviation hub capable of handling 600,000 passengers a year. Located in central Burma, the airport flies to 12 cities across the country and saw a 20 percent growth in annual passengers last year, with 500,000 domestic passengers and some 80,000 international passengers.

Since President Thein Sein came to power in 2011, Burma has embarked on a series of political and economic reforms, prompting warming relations with the international community and a growing number of visitors. In addition to a surge in foreign tourists, the country has attracted world leaders, international investors and foreign businesspeople.

Last year hotel rooms were in short supply due to the extra arrivals, and Burma's government warned the number of foreign visitors was set to exceed the annual capacity of 2.7 million that Yangon International Airport could handle.

Two Rohingya Killed by Police in Arakan: State Govt

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 04:06 AM PDT

An armed policeman observes a scene at unofficial camp for displaced Rohingya in Sittwe Township. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

At least two Rohingya Muslims were killed by police and seven others were injured in Sittwe, according to the regional government, which said the violence came during two incidents involving unruly mobs in the capital of Arakan State.

Win Myaing, a spokesperson for the Arakan State government, confirmed to The Irrawaddy on Monday that one person died on Sunday at a hospital in Sittwe, where he was receiving treatment for gunshot wounds. Another person's death was reported by Rohingya community leaders from Ohn Htaw Gyi, a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

"One person died yesterday and another one we found out about from their people at the camp, but they did not show the dead body to us," Win Myaing said.

He said his government had provided compensation to the victims' families, giving them 200,000 kyat (US$205) each for those wounded and 400,000 kyat to families of the deceased.

Gunfire rang out in two separate incidents on Friday, the first after an angry mob gathered outside a police outpost in the morning demanding that the body of a fellow Rohingya who had drowned the day prior be handed over. Police reportedly refused to provide the body, provoking a skirmish between the two sides.

Local sources said later that evening, another clash took place at the Buduwa IDP camp, nearby to Ohn Htaw Gyi. Police there reportedly fired into a crowd that had gathered in relation to the drowning victim.

Citing a "Rohingya spokesman," the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times reported that at least five people were killed during the clashes on Friday.

The state-run Burmese-language newspaper Myanma Alin did not report any fatalities. It said eight people were detained after a group of some 500 Rohingya gathered at the police outpost to collect the drowned Rohingya body. The newspaper said police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, which grew increasingly aggressive. One police officer, Htay Win, was beaten by the mob, Myanma Alin reported.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority found mainly in Arakan State. They are denied citizenship by the Burmese government, which considers them illegal "Bengali" immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, despite the fact that many of them have been living in Burma for generations.

International human rights groups and the UN human rights envoy have criticized the government's handling of the crisis in western Burma, where Arakanese Buddhists clashed with Rohingya in June and October 2012. The unrest led to nearly 200 deaths and displaced about 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya Muslims.

Student Army Marks 8888 Anniversary by Signing Truce With Govt

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 03:34 AM PDT

ABSDF fighters eat a meal near the frontline in Kachin State, in December 2012. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON – The Burma government and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) announced a truce on Saturday that will see the long-time antagonists start a political dialogue, in a possible end to a quarter century of on-off armed rebellion by the former students against what was one of the world's most brutal military regimes.

The deal, which could see the ABSDF open four liaison offices inside Burma, comes two days after the now-40-something leaders of the 1988 student uprising against the military regime marked their Silver Jubilee with three days of ceremony and speeches in Rangoon.

Both government ministers and opposition presidential candidate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose own political career was launched on the back of the uprising, attended the festivities.

The Burmese junta's brutal crackdown on the demonstrations prompted some student demonstrators to form a militia aimed at overthrowing it: the ABSDF.

Minister Aung Min, the government's main peace negotiator, told The Irrawaddy that the deal illustrated the changes sweeping Burma. "The essence of the gathering was that people who once fought against each other can share the same room—and this is a testament to the moves we are making toward democracy," he said.

Since ushering through a series of reforms in March 2011, the Burma government has freed political prisoners, including the key 1988 student leaders, and relaxed bans on trade unions and public protests.

But in the past few days, leaders of a march through Rangoon commemorating the 1988 events have been charged with holding a public protest without a permit. Protestors against land-grabs have also been jailed in recent months.

And although there are 17 ceasefires signed or in negotiation, according to the Myanmar Peace Monitor, a project set up to track the various peace processes, fighting between the Burma Army and ethnic rebels continues in northern Shan and Kachin states.

In a prelude to Saturday's agreement, the ABSDF signed a regional deal with the Karen State government on August 5.

Than Khe, chairman of the ABSDF, described Saturday's deal as a "first step," adding that progress "depends on the attitude of the government."

But it seems that the ABSDF will focus on negotiations, rather than armed struggle, in the future. "Our uprising was for democracy and human rights," Than Khe told The Irrawaddy, before adding that "now we have to go ahead with this new path, this political new phase."

International observers were present as the deal was signed on Saturday. Emma Leslie, executive director of the Phnom Penh-based Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, told The Irrawaddy that the agreement was significant because it was "the first union-level deal between the government and the ABSDF."

Also in attendance was Thein Zaw, vice-chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee and chairman of the Parliament Committee on National Race Affairs and Internal Peacemaking.

In July, House speaker and presidential hopeful Shwe Mann sought greater Parliament input into the various peace talks between the government and rebel militias, a move widely seen as an attempt to bolster his own standing ahead of Burma's 2015 national elections.

88 Generation leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi—fresh from their gala commemorations—served as observers to the peace talks, as did Mya Aye, another student demonstrator in 1988, who told The Irrawaddy that "it was a smooth negotiation and it went well."

Informal negotiations between the government and the ABSDF have been taking place for almost two years, said Aung Naing Oo, a former ABSDF member who now works for government-linked think-tank the Myanmar Peace Center.

"Things took time at first," he told The Irrawaddy. "But in the last few days the talks went very well and very smoothly."

The army’s 1988 crackdown killed an estimated 3,000 civilians, prompting some protestors to take to Burma's jungle borderlands. The 25 years of sporadic fighting since then have cost the lives of 600 ABSDF fighters.

Since then, the "student army" has struck alliances with a number of Burma's ethnic militias and lost 600 fighters in anti-government fighting. Dozens of members were executed amid internal purges during the 1990s, and for a time the ABSDF was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.

The ABSDF has set up a Truth and Justice Commission to look into the killings. Criminal proceedings have been started by family members of some of the deceased.

Meeting Between Govt, Journalists Yields No Breakthrough on Media Bills

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 02:16 AM PDT

Information Minister Aung Kyi gestures during a press conference in Rangoon on Monday. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A stand-off between the Burma government and local journalists over proposed media laws looks set to continue, with Burma's Upper House continuing to mull a controversial publishing bill that would give the Ministry of Information broad powers to issue and revoke publishing licenses.

Information Minister Aung Kyi met with members of Burma's interim Press Council, a journalists' organization, in Rangoon on Monday morning, but according to Myint Kyaw, a journalist and council member, there was no discussion of the terms of the Printers and Publishers Registration Bill, or of the council's own draft press law.

"We just agreed to continuing discussions but otherwise there were no details discussed," he told The Irrawaddy.

The meeting, which finished early, ended with a proposal by the ministry that the Press Council discuss the ministry's proposed "social responsibility" code for the country's media—terminology redolent of restrictive press regimes elsewhere in Southeast Asia in recent decades.

"We explained this [social responsibility] to the interim Press Council and we will await their views," Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy. Myint Kyaw told The Irrawaddy that the council would meet soon to discuss the social responsibility concept.

Asked whether Burma's government had examined media laws in other countries, such as Malaysia, where publications have been subject to similar licensing provisions as those proposed for Burma, Aung Kyi told The Irrawaddy that "we have looked at examples such as France and India." The most important criteria in drafting the law, the Minister added, were not external examples, but "our own customs and needs."

Press Council members, on Monday clad in white T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Give freedom to Media Law for the People to get truth," have said they will resign if the Printers and Publishers Registration Bill is passed into law as it stands. The council wants publishing licenses to be regulated under commercial rather than media laws.

"We welcome that there is difference of opinion over these laws," Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy. "It is normal in a democratic society."

The bill is currently being discussed by the Upper House of Burma's Parliament. It was passed by the Lower House on July 4. "We gave our feedback to the Upper House on July 24," said Myint Kyaw. "We hope they will make some changes to the bill before passing it."

The draft legislation contains vague language banning criticism of Burma's 2008 Constitution, as well as the prospect of publishing licenses being withheld or revoked by the Ministry of Information.

Ye Htut said the Printers and Publishers Registration Bill could be sent back to the Lower House for further consideration. "We cannot say what will happen," he told The Irrawaddy. "It came from the Lower House so perhaps the Upper House will make changes and send it back."

The Press Council is preparing to send its own press law to Parliament for consideration, Myint Kyaw said. The Ministry of Information had previously sought amendments to the council's draft, but the council has rebuffed those suggestions.

"We decided to put to Parliament through an MP, not from USDP [the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party], not from NLD [opposition National League for Democracy]," Myint Kyaw told The Irrawaddy. "But through the New National Democratic Party and MP Thein Nyunt," he said.

The Press Council will meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday to discuss the various media codes. The council's own draft is intended as a professional code for journalists, while the government contends that the Printers and Publishers Registration Bill is an enterprise-related law. Media watchdogs have criticized the latter bill, however, for alleged mission creep, saying that it strays into content regulation.

Veteran Burmese Journalist Maung Wuntha Dies

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 01:58 AM PDT

Journalist Maung Wuntha passed away on Sunday at the age of 68. (Photo: Facebook / Maung Wuntha)

Maung Wuntha, a veteran Burmese journalist who also served as deputy chairman of the country's interim Press Council, succumbed to cancer on Sunday. He was 68 years old.

His son Naung Naung Soe confirmed Maung Wuntha's death to The Irrawaddy, saying his father passed away after a battle with lung cancer at Rangoon's Victoria Hospital, where he had undergone treatment for more than a month.

"We still haven't confirmed the date for the funeral as we are waiting for one of our family members who is far from home," Naung Naung Soe added.

Born Soe Thein, the man widely known by the pen name Maung Wuntha entered journalism in the 1960s, working for government newspapers. He was forced to resign as editor of the Botahtaung daily newspaper for his active participation in Burma's 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He was formerly a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and was imprisoned for several years after winning a seat in Burma's 1990 parliamentary elections, the results of which were ignored by the ruling military regime of the time. Maung Wuntha was detained on three separate occasions over the years.

Since his last release in 2001, Maung Wuntha had stepped back from active participation in politics, instead resuming his career as a journalist. He thrived in the relative openness that Burma's media have enjoyed since a quasi-civilian government took power in March 2011, writing regularly about political developments in the country and acting as an editorial adviser to the People's Age journal. He offered praise and criticism of the new government in equal measure, urging President Thein Sein to release political prisoners and end Burma's long-running ethnic conflicts.

Maung Wuntha was also quick to embrace the Internet age and social media, using Facebook to communicate with Burmese exile communities around the world. He also took to Facebook to announce his cancer diagnosis in October of last year.

When the country's interim Press Council was founded in 2012, Maung Wuntha took a leading role in fighting for press freedom in Burma, according to Pe Myint, an editor of the People's Age as well as a fellow council member. Maung Wuntha was also president of the Myanmar Journalists Association (MJA).

Pe Myint on Sunday praised Maung Wuntha as a prolific writer who had closely followed Burma's political progress over the years.

"He was always on alert when it came to politics in the country," Pe Myint said. "So there are many people who enjoyed reading his commentary column in our journal. His death is a loss for us."

Apart from his journalistic endeavors, Maung Wuntha is well known for his translations of biographies on US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Maung Wuntha is survived by his wife Myint Myint, four children and two grandchildren.

J-League Looks to Extend Influence in SE Asia

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 11:32 PM PDT

Ganso, center, of Copa Sudamericana champion Sao Paulo fights for the ball against Yuya Osako, left, and Mitsuo Ogasawara of J League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup champion Kashima Antlers during the Suruga Bank football championship match in Kashima, east of Tokyo on August 7, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

SEOUL, South Korea — The English Premier League has long dominated the popularity of international football in Southeast Asia. It's newest rival for regional audiences comes not from the major leagues of Spain or Italy, but from Japan.

The J-League, established in 1993 and generally regarded as Asia's best domestic competition, does not have the history or the prestige of the big European leagues. But while English clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool often play a friendly in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur every couple of years, the J-League insists it is committed to developing football in Southeast Asia for the long-term and at a number of levels.

Over the past two years, the J-League has signed separate partnership agreements with leagues in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and Burma which involve the exchange of expertise on and off the field.

Japanese clubs have established relationships with teams in the region, and from 2012 Thailand, Vietnam and Burma started broadcasting J-League games with more countries expected to follow suit.

"We fully understand how popular the English Premier League is in Southeast Asia," Daisuke Nakanishi, J-League director of competitions and sales management, told The Associated Press. "That's why we think that there is no way of winning if we apply the same approach in the market, and we believe that we should do something different."

Nakanishi says Japan's league has two advantages over the European leagues.

"We are in Asia, so we are close to the region geographically and mentally, and Japan is the only country which used to be very weak but has grown rapidly in very short period," he said. "So we can be a role model. We are more than happy to share our know how with Southeast Asia in order to develop together."

The size and global reach of the top English clubs mean that any partnerships they form in Southeast Asia are unequal. In the past, local clubs have sometimes been reduced to becoming little more than merchandise sellers for the big teams.

On the pitch it can be a similar story. In 2007, three of Thailand's top players famously joined Manchester City, then owned by the country's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, yet none made it close to a Premier League appearance and soon departed. The J-League is good but not to the extent that it is a closed door for Southeast Asian talent.

"In the near future, we hope that there will be many star Southeast Asian players playing in the J-League, which makes the J-League more visible and popular in the region," Nakanishi said. "This is a unique approach which the English Premier League does not have."

Worawi Makudi, president of the Thailand Football Association, agrees that Japan has much to offer as a role model to follow for developing nations in Asia as it has come a long way in a short time.

"At the moment in the [Southeast Asian] region the English Premier League is popular and is tough to beat, but maybe the Japanese league in terms of broadcasting rights can grow," Worawi said. "If Japanese clubs have Thai players then people in Thailand would like to watch them."

There are plans to make it easier for the best Thai stars to head east. Much could depend on the success of Le Cong Vinh, who has been one of the biggest stars in Vietnam and the region for a number of years.

The striker had a short but unsuccessful spell with Portuguese club Leixoes in 2009 and last month joined Consadole Sapporo, which was last season relegated to Japan's second tier. Ngo Le Bang, general secretary of the Vietnamese Football Federation has high hopes for the player.

"Le Cong Vinh is one of our best players," Bang said. "Firstly his appearance in Japan, even in the second division, could promote the image of Vietnamese football, and then after him there could be other opportunities."

Bang says the experience the country's players could receive in Japan will benefit the Vietnamese national team and professional league.

"The reputation of the J-League is improving partly due to the increasing number of players from Japan heading to the top leagues of Europe. Their football players have made huge progress in domestic and international competitions. … Japan shows how a team can compete equally against physically stronger teams."

The Vietnamese striker does not see himself as a figurehead for the new relationship between Southeast Asia and Japan. He just wants to play.

"I think the J-League is the best league in Asia and I believe that I can learn a lot of things here," Le said said. "That's why I decided to come here. … I am ready to show my strengths to the fans."

It won't be just fans in Vietnam who will be watching with interest to see if Le is able to do so.

Man Arrested After Allegedly Selling Burmese Migrants into Slavery

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 10:29 PM PDT

Burmese human trafficking victims are seen last year in Thailand's Chonburi Province after Thai authorities rescued them from a fishing boat they were forced to work on. Over the weekend, Thai police said they had arrested and charged a suspected human trafficker who allegedly sold hundreds of migrants from Burma into slavery to work in Thailand's fishing industry. (Photo: Kyaw Thaung)

BANGKOK — Thai authorities have arrested and charged a suspected human trafficker who allegedly sold hundreds of migrants from Burma into slavery to work in Thailand's fishing industry, police said Saturday.

Ko Myo, a 42-year-old Burma national, was captured in a raid by police and justice officials on Aug. 1 in Thailand's southern province of Surat Thani and faces human trafficking charges, said Police Maj. Gen. Chavalit Sawangpuech.

"This is a very significant case as Ko Myo is the leader of one of most notorious human trafficking rings in Thailand," Chavalit said. "He is an agent with a large client base, who has abused his own countrymen on Thai soil for 10 years."

Ko Myo is being held in custody at a hospital after sustaining gunshot wounds during the raid.

Chavalit said police were also investigating his alleged involvement in the rape and killing of a Burmese woman in March in Thailand's Trang province, on the Andaman coast.

Three of Ko Myo's close aides were arrested in separate raids. All three face human trafficking charges, while two were also charged with rape and murder of the same Burmese woman.

Chavalit said Thai police would reach out to their counterparts in Burma to try to arrest more human trafficking suspects.

The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation said in a statement Friday that it welcomed the capture of the suspects and called for parties "to work together to prevent human trafficking in Thai seafood production and bring an end to this devastating practice."

Typhoon Batters Philippines; 23 Fishermen Missing

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 10:19 PM PDT

An aerial view of devastated coastal Banganga town more than one month after Typhoon Bopha hit Davao Oriental in southern Philippines, seen from a military helicopter on January 16, 2013. Another typhoon, known as Typhoon Utor, struck the northern Philippines on Monday. (Photo: Reuters)

MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon struck the northern Philippines on Monday, toppling power lines and dumping heavy rains across mountains, cities and food-growing plains and leaving at least 23 fishermen missing.

Typhoon Utor, described as the strongest typhoon globally so far this year, slammed ashore in mountainous eastern Aurora province with sustained winds of 175 kilometers (109 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 210 kph (130 mph).

About 1,000 residents in the central Bicol region spent the night in shelters while Aurora province was without power, the national disaster agency said. Radio stations reported roofs were blown off and a covered basketball court washed away in Dinalungan town.

There was no immediate word on casualties, but 23 fishermen who were out at sea failed to return home in four towns in Catanduanes province, according to their families. Authorities were hoping they just took shelter in coves and nearby islands, said Office of Civil Defense regional director Bernardo Alejandro IV.

"I hope they're just waiting for the typhoon to pass and will show up as soon as the weather clears," he said. A higher number of missing had been reported over the weekend, but some fishermen since returned home.

More than 8,000 travelers were stranded as passenger and cargo ferries were grounded.

Classes in towns and cities on the typhoon's path were suspended, including in the capital Manila, and several domestic flights canceled.

Utor was forecast to cut across the main northern island of Luzon on Monday and move into the South China Sea on Tuesday in the direction of Guangdong in China, expected to make landfall there Wednesday.

Utor is the 12th of about 20 storms and typhoons expected to lash the Philippines this year.

Curfew in Sri Lankan Capital After Mosque Attack

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 10:11 PM PDT

Sri Lanka's riot police patrol outside a vandalized mosque in Colombo on Sunday. (Photo: Reuters)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police on Saturday declared a curfew in the capital, Colombo, to prevent possible religious clashes after a Buddhist mob threw rocks and vandalized a mosque, injuring at least seven worshippers.

A trustee for the mosque in Colombo, A. Hameed, said that four of the seven worshippers hurt in the attack on Masjid Deenul Islam have been hospitalized.

Police spokesman Buddika Siriwardena said two police officers were injured while trying to prevent clashes between the Buddhist mob and Muslim youth who gathered to defend the mosque.

The attack comes amid a growing anti-Muslim campaign by Buddhist nationalist groups who consider Muslims, who make up 9 percent of the island nation's 20 million population, to be a threat to the political and economic well-being of the 70 percent ethnic Sinhalese-Buddhists.

"There is a limit to our patience, there is no point regretting if this breaks out into a major clash. But some fools do not understand this," said Mohamed Miflal, a Muslim community worker. "I ask the authorities give us enough protection."

Buddhist nationalist groups complain that Muslims are dominating businesses and are conspiring to take over the country demographically by increasing their birthrate and secretly sterilizing Sinhalese.

Since September 2011 more than 30 attacks on Muslim-owned businesses have been reported.

6 Killed by Indonesia Volcano Had Refused to Leave

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 09:56 PM PDT

An aerial view of Anak Krakatau volcano in Indonesia spewing ash and smoke in the Sunda strait in February. Indonesia is home to 129 active volcanoes. Another, Mount Rokatenda, erupted early on Saturday in East Nusa Tenggara province, and thousands were evacuated. (Photo: Reuters)

MAUMERE, Indonesia — The six people swept up and killed by hot lava from an erupting volcano in eastern Indonesia had refused to leave the area for safer ground when the mountain began rumbling last year, an official said Sunday, one day after the eruption.

Officials continued searching Sunday for the bodies of two children buried by the hot lava as rumbling could still be heard from Mount Rokatenda on the small island of Palue in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated from the area since the volcano erupted early Saturday morning, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. The volcano had been active since last October.

Tini Thadeus, head of the local disaster agency, said the six victims, who died while sleeping in a beachside village, were among those who had refused to leave last year when evacuations were carried out to establish a safety zone around the volcano.

"On their belief, if all the old villagers abandoned the red [danger] zone, then lava will destroy the residential area," Thadeus said from Kupang, the provincial capital. Among the dead was a 58-year-old woman, the grandmother of the two children who also died.

"But unfortunately, not like in the past, lava from Saturday's eruption flowed northward and hit them," Thadeus said, adding that during earlier eruptions since the 1930s, volcanic material had always flowed southward.

On nearby Flores island, Mutiara Mauboi, an official at the command post helping evacuees, said 138 had arrived Sunday in the town of Maumere. Eleven people, including two pregnant women and two disabled people, were taken to a hospital due to injuries sustained during the eruption.

The people who died included three adults and the two children. The age of the sixth person is not clear.

Thadeus said he was not optimistic about recovering the children's bodies since they were buried under hot volcanic material.

He said small explosions could still be heard coming from the peak, which was still spewing smoke up to 600 meters (656 yards) into the sky.

"But all of the villagers have been evacuated out of the danger zone" near the crater, he said.

Mount Rokatenda is one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that's home to 240 million people. The country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.

The Ministry of Information prepares for some ‘preemptive pruning’

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 09:47 PM PDT
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