At least 13 people have been killed after Mount Semeru erupted in Indonesia, sending ash clouds 50,000ft into the sky.
People fled in panic after the volcano in the Lumajang district of East Java, sent giant clouds of ash into the sky at around 7pm on Saturday.
A fast response has been ordered by the president of Indonesia to find and treat victims of the eruption.
Seven people remain missing with smouldering debris and thick mud hampering search efforts.
A body monitoring volcano activity said the ash clouds had risen up to 50,000ft in the air and witnesses claimed in some places they had blacked out the sun.
Health officials said 13 people were killed, two of whom have been identified.
CNN said at least 300 families were evacuated after the eruption, according to Indah Amperawati, deputy head of Lumajang District
In its statement disasters agency BNPB said search and rescue efforts were ongoing.
One rescue volunteer in Indonesia's Lumajang district said he and his team evacuated the bodies of six miners from a river in Curah Kobokan village, where they were mining sand in the river bank.
Almost 100 people have been injured, including two pregnant women and more than 900 have been evacuated.
Ten people who had been trapped in mines around the volcano have been brought to safety, Sky News reports.
Around 30 buildings and a bridge were destroyed in the eruption, which also brought thunderstorms that hampered evacuation efforts as ash covered homes and vehicles.
Several villages were covered in falling ash, and TV reports showed people screaming and running under a huge plume of ash with faces covered by a combination of rain and volcanic dust.
Eko Budi Lelono, who heads the geological survey centre said a thunderstorm and days of rain finally collapsed the lava dome the 3,676-metre (12,060-foot) Semeru and triggered the eruption.
He said flows of boiling gas and lava travelled up to 800 metres (2,624 feet) to a nearby river at least twice on Saturday.
The Mirror told yesterday how terrified locals were seen fleeing from a huge cloud of smoke and ash after the eruption.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center has issued a warning after a volcanic ash plume rose up to an estimated 40000ft, raining down on the residents below.
Lumajang district head Thoriqul Haq told TVOne: "Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness."
He added that a number of people had been moved to temporary shelters or nearby secure areas.
Airlines were advised to avoid routes near the volcano, but reports said flight operations were still running as scheduled and that authorities would continue to monitor the situation.
The 12,060ft volcano last erupted in January, causing no deaths but the toll from this eruption has been on a different scale.
Indonesia has more than 270 million people, but it is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.
Mount Semeru is situated 3,676m above sea level and is among around 130 other active volcanoes in Indonesia.
Meteorologist Campbell Biggs told the BBC that visibility and air quality in the cabin could affect the mechanics of aircraft thousands of feet in the air.
Mount Semeru - the tallest volcano on the island of Java - previously erupted in January this year.
Mr Biggs said on Saturday it marked a "pretty significant increase in intensity" of the crater.
But he also said the ash cloud should slowly disperse in the area allowing clearer conditions for those affected.
Mount Semeru is situated 3,676m above sea level and is among around 130 other active volcanoes in Indonesia.
They have erupted in the past, but not on such a large scale.
