Hundreds of fish and eels were spotted coming down Bali’s Unda River on Tuesday, downstream of the island’s smoking Mount Agung volcano.
The volcano has been belching thick gray clouds of since last week and in the last few days has been shooting up plumes of ash into the sky, leading to the volcano getting upgraded to the highest alert status since Monday.
Photos posted to Facebook by Ary Kencana show residents holding up various types of fish and eels on Tuesday in the muddied Unda River in Bali’s Klungkung regency, which is south of Karangasem where the volcano is.
The fish were “already dead” and “killed because of nature,” wrote Kencana, who added that hundreds of people had come to the Unda around 9am to take the fish.
“Because the water from the river mixed with mud and volcanic ash,” she wrote.
After her photos went viral with over three thousand shares, Kencana did a follow-up post, urging netizens to contact the relevant local agencies to try and find a solution to save all the dying fish.
Local residents have been warned by Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to stay away from river channels as lahars—destructive flows of ash, mud, and other debris—begin to flow down.
“People around Mount Agung should be alert against the threat of cold lava floods. If it starts to rain upstream, immediately get out of the water,” cautions BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
“The rain is going to increase. Do not do activities around the river. In a radius of eight to 10 kilometers, must be empty from activity. People in this radius are in danger and must evacuate. Do not even watch the eruption near Mount Agung,” Nugroho said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
Additionally, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) has instructed residents to specifically beware of the Yeh Sah and Unda Rivers.
“The chemical threat of lahars is minimal, but the physical threat is much greater. So, it’s better not to do any activities around the river and to be especially alert if passing over the bridge,” said PVMBG head, Gede Suantika.
But seeing all the fish coming down, residents outside of the exclusion zone have not totally heeded the warning of staying away from the river. Residents came carrying nets to capture fish and eels that had allegedly died due to sulfur poisoning in the river—which did reportedly have a “stinging odor of sulfur.”
“The night before, the cold lava was flowing quite swiftly. People panicked and were worried, but until now the lahar is still flowing and so it’s become a spectacle,” said local resident, Ni Ketut Sari.
A resident of Selat, Karangasem, Wayan Putra said that the lahars are getting bigger due to heavy rainfall.
“In Selat, there are many villages affected by lahars.
“Residents are worried about their crops and livestock,” he added.
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