Mass exodus as volcano erupts in Indonesia

A major volcanic eruption in Indonesia has shrouded a large swathe of the country's most heavily populated island in ash, triggering the evacuation of about 200,000 people and closing three international airports. Indonesia's disaster agency said two people died on Friday in the overnight eruption of Java's Mount Kelud, considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the island. "A rain of ash, sand and rocks" reached up to 15km from the volcano's crater, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told the Agence France-Presse news agency. "Sparks of light can be continuously seen at the peak." The smell of sulfur and ash hung so thickly in the air that breathing was painful.