At least 10 thousand people were affected by the eruption of the Lekotobi volcano, in the area of Flores Timur (Indonesia), which occurred shortly after midnight on the 4th November 2024: the local disaster management agency reports that at the moment there are 10 victims, but that the real estimate of the effects of the eruption is not yet known. The lava material, in fact, arrived 6 kilometers away from the crater, covering and destroying houses, villages, cities, and forcing the inhabitants to flee.
Amongst the confirmed victims is also a Sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart: their Motherhouse, as well as the Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Larantuka and many homes, were overwhelmed by lava in the middle of the night, triggering devastating fires that forced the residents to flee, now housed in rescue centers far from the volcano.
Improvised shelters, tents, but also churches and convents: it is here that the OFM is working alongside the displaced population by involving the entire Franciscan Family in the area. The friars and the JPIC Office of the Province of St. Michael the Archangel of Indonesia are engaged in humanitarian activities of relief and aid to the victims, coordinating the joint effort of brothers and sisters of the entire Franciscan Family of Flores.
Assistance to displaced persons and supply of basic necessities (drinking water, food, tents, clothing, medicines) to people who have lost everything: according to reports from the Minister Provincial, Br. Mikhael Peruhe OFM, after this first moment of response to the emergency in the short term, we will move on to a second phase of reconstruction, in the long term, to help the population restore normal living conditions.
To this end, we ask women and men of good will to join the fundraising campaign promoted by the OFM Fraternitas Foundation to help the victims of the eruption of the Lemotolobi volcano.
