KARO, Indonesia: Almost 18,000 people have now fled their homes as a volcano violently erupts in western Indonesia, an official said, as it spewed more red-hot gas and rocks Monday.
Authorities at the weekend issued the highest safety alert for Mount Sinabung on the island of Sumatra after it erupted spectacularly, urging everyone in a five-km (3.1-mile) radius of the volcano to evacuate.
On Monday, Sinabung erupted six times more, spewing columns of ash as high as 2,000 meters (6,500 feet), national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
“The number of displaced increased a lot because we lifted the alert level,” he said, adding 17,713 people had now fled their homes up from around 12,000 the day before.
“But some communities are not as affected and people are staying at home to farm and rear livestock.” Sinabung is one of dozens of active volcanoes in Indonesia, which straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the “Ring of Fire.”
In August, five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a tiny island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted.
Mount Merapi in central Java, the country’s most active volcano, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions in 2010 and showed signs of low activity last week.
18,000 Indonesians flee erupting volcano
18,000 Indonesians flee erupting volcano
International baby milk recall leads to French legal action
- Eight French families have joined a lawsuit filed by Foodwatch
- The complaint, while not naming the manufacturers or government agencies, calls for a legal investigation
PARIS: A recall of potentially contaminated infant milk formula in some 60 countries has taken a legal turn in France after a watchdog and eight families filed a lawsuit accusing manufacturers and the government of acting too slowly.
Eight French families, who said their babies suffered severe digestive problems after drinking formula named in the recall, have joined a lawsuit filed by Foodwatch, which AFP has seen.
The complaint, while not naming the manufacturers or government agencies, calls for a legal investigation.
Foodwatch, a European consumer association, believes that producers could not have ignored the risks to babies by leaving their milk on sale in France and in more than a dozen European countries, as well as in Australia, Russia, Qatar or Egypt.
Several manufacturers, including giants like Nestle, Danone, and Lactalis have issued recalls of infant formula in more than 60 countries, including France, since December due to a risk of cereulide contamination.
Cereulide, a toxin produced by certain bacteria, is “likely to cause primarily digestive problems, such as vomiting or diarrhea,” according to the French health ministry, though it said last week it so far had not determined a link to the symptoms experienced by the infants.
In the complaint, Foodwatch accuses milk powder manufacturers of delaying action between the initial warnings in December and the recalls, some of which were not widely publicized. They became more widespread in January.
Foodwatch believes that parents were told too little, too late, and in a confusing manner. French agriculture minister Annie Genevard said however that procedures had been “very well followed.”
Two separate criminal investigations have already been opened in France following the deaths of two infants who consumed infant formula recalled by Nestle due to “possible contamination” by a bacterial substance, although no “causal link” has yet been established, according to authorities.
Authorities are accused in the Foodwatch complaint of delaying action and of deficiencies in their controls.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced meanwhile that it had been asked by the European Commission to establish a standard for cereulide in children’s products. It will issue an opinion on February 2.
