Indonesia volcano eruption leaves villages buried in hot ash

Rescue crews are frantically searching for survivors after an Indonesian volcano erupted, burring nearby villages in hot ash

Rescue efforts are continuing after Indonesia’s Mt Semeru volcano on the Java island erupted on Saturday.

Fourteen people are known to have died and dozens more have been injured, many suffering sever burns according to emergency authorities.

One volunteer in the nearby district of Lumajang filmed police and military officials working to dig out bodies with their bare hands.

Houses have been buried to their rooftops and vehicles wholly submerged in the hot volcanic ash

Taufiq Ismail Marzuqi, who filmed the struggle to excavate bodies, told ticker NEWS affiliate, Reuters that the rescue efforts were “very dire”.

At least 11 villages in Lumajang, in East Java, have been impacted – many coated in volcanic ash.

Approximately 56 people have been injured, with many suffering burns after they mistook the hot mud flow for flooding.

According to reports, one man searching for survivors stated that 10 people were missing in his village.

“Locals here thought it was just usual floods. We did not know it was hot mud. All of sudden, the sky turned dark as rains and hot smoke came. Thankfully, it was raining so we could breathe,” he told AFP.

Some relatives of the victims in Lumajang in East Java say they have not yet been able to collect their loved ones as some of the bodies have not yet been identified by authorities.