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Bali tourist areas unaffected by volcano evacuation

Main tourist areas and flights in Bali remain unaffected despite thousands of people being evacuated near an active volcano on the Indonesian island.

Almost 35,000 residents have been moved from their homes near Mount Agung amid warning that warn it could erupt imminently.

Authorities have imposed a 7.5 mile exclusion zone around the mountain and issued their highest alert on Friday.

Indonesia’s national volcanology centre said on Sunday night that the mountain’s “seismic energy is increasing and has the potential to erupt”.

Mount Agung, which is more than 3,000m above sea level, lies in the eastern part of Bali.

The volcano is about 70km from the main tourist areas of Kuta and Seminyak, which remain unaffected for now, the BBC reported.

Flights in and out of Bali are operating normally.

The Bali Tourism Board said yesterday that ferries connecting to neighbouring islands Lombok and Java, also popular with holidaymakers, were on schedule.

However, visitors were still advised to “start preparing sufficient stock of face masks” in case of an eruption even though no volcanic ash ad been detected.

“The best measure to guard against an ashfall is to stay indoors. Yet if it is necessary to go out, then the best protective measure against suspended ash is to wear a face mask,” the tourism board said.

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