DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP),3 July 2018-The Mount Agung volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali erupted Monday evening, ejecting a 2,000-meter-high column of thick ash and hurling lava down its slopes.   

The Indonesian geological agency’s Agung monitoring post said explosions from the mountain began just after 9 p.m. and lasted more than 7 minutes. “Flares of incandescent lava” reached 2 kilometers from the crater, it said, setting fire to forests at high elevation on the mountain.   

Nearly 700 people fled Banjar Galih village, about 6 kilometers from the crater, to an evacuation center, said a resident, Ketut Budi.   

“I saw smoke rising and the volcano rumbled very loud,” he said. “We came here with motorcycles and those with cars helped carry other people.”