The team of doctors at the Kabanjahe General Hospital is providing continuous medical assistance to the refugees..."Medan, North Sumatra (ANTARA News) - A total of 122 Mount Sinabung eruption refugees in the Karo District, North Sumatra, are reportedly ill and still undergoing treatment in the intensive care units of several hospitals, in Kabanjahe city, Medan.
Chairman of the Kabanjahe Media Center for Sinabung Disaster Management Post Jhonson Taringan informed that most of the refugees are suffering from acute respiratory infection and are being treated at the Kabanjahe General Hospital.
"The team of doctors at the Kabanjahe General Hospital is providing continuous medical assistance to the refugees, who developed the condition following the eruption of Mount Sinabung," added Johnson.
By Monday, Dec 23, the number of people displaced by the eruption of Mount Sinabung had increased to 18.378 or 5,681 families.
Previously, on Sunday, Dec 22, the refugee count was 18.309 people or 5,669 households.
Effective Sunday, Dec 22, at around 10:00 a.m. the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, PVMBG, has raised the status of Mount Sinabung from Alert level to Caution.
The raised Caution level is indicative of its potential to cause further widespread eruptions of 3-4 cm sized fragments that can travel up to a 4 km radius. Hence, the people living within the 5 km radius of the crater of Mount Sinabung must be evacuated.
The emergency status of the eruption of Mount Sinabung, in North Sumatra, has been extended until January 4, 2014, as the volcano is still showing signs of increased activity, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted earlier on Sunday.
"The Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) is still imposing an evacuation zone within a five-kilometer radius of the mounts peak," Sutopo added.
(Uu.A050/INE/KR-BSR/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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