The volcano erupted on Sunday afternoon spewing volcanic matters including sulfuric rocks .
Kabanjahe, North Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Five people have to be hospitalized in the North Sumatra city of Kabanjahe after the eruption of Mount Sinabung on Sunday.

Jhonson Tarigan, a spokesman of the Sinabung Disaster Control Agency said the five people suffered difficulty in breathing after inhaling volcanic ashes.

Their condition, however, is not serious but they need medical care, Johnson said here on Monday.

He said Kabanjahe, which is located 22 kilometer away from the volcano is not as bad as Berastagi , a mountain resort city in the same Tanah Karo regency.

All buildings and cars running or parked on the streets of Brastagi, which is only 10 kilometers from Mount Sinabung are blanketed with volcanic ashes , he said.

All people in Berastagi have to wear masker, and most shops and offices are closed, he added.

Data at the disaster control agency showed that by Monday, 4,739 people have been evacuated to refugee camps , churches and mosques.

The volcano erupted on Sunday afternoon spewing volcanic matters including sulfuric rocks .

"Rains of hot sulfuric rocks as big as maize corns hit the village of Berastepu, in the sub-district of Simpang Empat for two hours," a villager Norman Sitepu said here on Monday.

Sleeping villagers of Berastepu, which is only 3 kilometers from the volcano , were disturbed by rumbling noise early dawn before it erupted on Sunday afternoon, Norman said.

Many of the villagers were panicked and ran away to leave their houses and at daybreak, hundreds of people already crowded makeshift refugee camps and public places including churches and mosques, he said.

There were a crowd of 800 families in the refugee camps, but there are tens of other people still in the village of Berastepu, he said.

"They refused to leave their houses and are worried about their livestock and crops," he said.

Sinabung is the tallest volcano in North Sumatra , with peak 2,600 meters above the sea level.

With Mount Sibayak , 2,040 meters tall in the same regency, are the only remaining active volcanoes in North Sumatra.

Last time Sinabung erupted before Sunday was in September, 2010. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013