40,000 people have been evacuated from near Bali's erupting Mount Agung volcano
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said 40,000 people had been evacuated from near Bali's erupting Mount Agung volcano, but tens of thousands still needed to move with an imminent large eruption warning issued on Monday.
"We really ask people in the danger zone to evacuate immediately because there's a potential for a bigger eruption," said Sutopo, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB).
He told a briefing that 40,000 people had evacuated out of around 90,000-100,000 residents estimated in the 8-10 km (5-6 miles) exclusion zone around Mount Agung.
Bali Volcano: Plumes of smoke are accompanied by eruptions and sounds of explosions heard 12 km away
"Not all residents have evacuated yet. There are those (who haven't evacuated) because their farm animals haven't been evacuated yet. There are those who feel they are safe," he said, adding that security personnel were trying to persuade people to leave but they could be evacuated by force.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Michael Perry) © Thomson Reuters 2017
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