Indonesia raises alert status of volcano to maximum

JAKARTA, May 13 (Reuters) - Indonesia today raised the alert status of Mount Merapi to its highest level and ordered the compulsory evacuation of thousands of residents living on the slopes of the volcano, a government vulcanologist said.

''This morning we raised the status of Merapi to the top alert which is the red code. Every resident has been ordered to evacuate,'' Subandrio, head of the Merapi section at the Centre for Volcanological Research and Technology Development, told Reuters.

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