Indonesian authorities evacuated residents of seven villages within a nearly four-mile radius of a volcano on the remote island of Halmahera in Indonesia after it erupted and spewed ash about 2.5 miles into the sky.

Reuters reported that Mount Ibu erupted on Saturday night, turning the sky into a spectacle of gray ash spewing out of the volcano’s crater with flashes of purple lightning.

A crew consisting of police, military and search and rescue services was sent to the area to evacuate residents from surrounding villages, according to a statement from the disaster mitigation agency.

The joint team reportedly assisted the elderly with evacuating the area while residents were moved out of the area in pickup trucks and taken to emergency tents to spend the night.

INDONESIA’S MOUNT IBU VOLCANO ERUPTS, AUTHORITIES PREPARE TO EVACUATE THOUSANDS

The agency did not specify how many people had been moved, though authorities recommended that a seven-kilometer (4.35-mile) radius be evacuated.

Mount Ibu erupted last Monday for about five minutes, just days after it erupted on May 10. The eruptions caused the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation to raise the alert level for the volcano from 2 to 3, which is the second-highest level.

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Lightning appears amid a storm as Mount Ibu spews volcanic material during an eruption, as seen from Gam Ici in West Halmahera, North Maluku province, Indonesia, on May 18, 2024. (Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation/Handout via Reuters)

Officials advised residents and tourists not to conduct any activities within three miles of Mount Ibu’s crater. More than 13,000 people live within a 3-mile radius of the northern side of the crater, Hendra Gunawan, chief of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation agency said.

VIDEO SHOWS LIGHTNING SHOOTING FROM TOXIC ASH CLOUD DURING POWERFUL VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN INDONESIA

Purple lighting is seen near Mount Ibu on May 18, 2024. (Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation/Handout via Reuters)

Mount Ibu is a 4,347-foot volcano on the northwest coast of the remote island of Halmahera.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

INDONESIA’S RUANG VOLCANO SPITS MORE HOT ASH AFTER ERUPTION FORCES SCHOOLS AND AIRPORTS TO CLOSE

Mount Ibu spews thick smoke in Gam Ici, North Maluku, on May 13, 2024. A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on May 13, spewing a huge ash tower more than five kilometers (three miles) into the sky after authorities raised its alert level to the second-highest last week.

On Thursday, the agency raised the alert level to the highest level, following several eruptions.

On May 11, flash floods and “cold lava” flowed from Mount Marapi, one of the most active volcanoes in West Sumatra province, into nearby districts after torrential rains, killing more than 60 people.

North Sulawesi’s Ruang volcano also erupted in recent weeks, prompting authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people from a nearby island.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Dozens of barricades dismantled along key road linking airport to capital Noumea, French officials say.

French forces trying to stem unrest in the Pacific island territory of New Caledonia have cleared dozens of barricades that had been blocking the main road linking the airport to the capital, Noumea, a senior official said.

Around 60 barricades that protesters had put up along the 60km (37-mile) road have been dismantled, but the road is not yet open as debris needs to be cleared, which will take several days, Louis Le Franc, the territory’s high commissioner, said on Sunday.

In a televised address, Le Franc also pledged to restore order in New Caledonia after at least six people were killed and hundreds more injured in protests that erupted last Monday in anger over a contentious constitutional amendment.

The Indigenous Kanak people – who make up about 40 percent of the population in the French territory – have slammed the new rules that will change who is allowed to participate in elections, which local leaders fear will dilute the Kanak vote.

“Republican order will be re-established whatever the cost,” Le Franc said on Sunday, adding that if separatists “want to use their arms, they will be risking the worst”.

The French territory off northeastern Australia has long been riven by pro-independence tensions, but this is the worst violence seen in decades.

France deployed troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport, and it also banned TikTok as the government imposed a state of emergency on May 16.

Three of those killed were members of the Kanak community and two were police officers.

A sixth person was killed and two seriously injured on Saturday during what French police said was a gun battle between two groups at a roadblock in Kaala-Gomen. The police did not identify the groups.

Some 600 heavily armed police and paramilitaries took part in the operation on Sunday to retake the main road from the capital to the airport, authorities said.

Forces with armoured vehicles and construction equipment destroyed 76 roadblocks, France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a post on social media.

The minister said more than 200 arrests had been made, adding that “there are still many obstacles to be lifted to impose republican order”.

Dominique Fochi, secretary-general of the leading independence movement in the territory, urged calm but said the French government must suspend the constitutional change.

“We need strong actions to calm the situation, the government needs to stop putting oil on the fire,” Fochi told the Reuters news agency.

The presidents of four other French overseas territories – La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean and French Guiana in South America – on Sunday called for the withdrawal of the voting reform in an open letter.

“Only a political response can halt the rising violence and prevent civil war,” they warned, saying they “call on the government to withdraw the constitutional reform bill aiming to change the electoral roll … as the precursor to a peaceful dialogue”.

French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a defence and national security council meeting on Monday evening to discuss the situation in the territory, the Elysee Palace said.