Bali airport forced to close amid volcanic ash
Bali, June 29 : Indonesian authorities on Friday closed the airport in the resort island of Bali amid volcanic ash spewed from Mount Agung which erupted a day earlier.
The Ngurah Rai international airport will remain closed till 6 p.m. and an assessment of the situation will be made at 11 a.m., reports Xinhua news agency.
A total of 239 domestic flights and 207 international flights have been affected due to the shutdown of the airport.
Agung began a phase of volcanic activity on November 21, 2017, which had forced the closure of the airport, located 60 km to the south of the volcano, affecting more than 100,000 passengers. Located in the east of the island, Mount Agung is far from most tourist attractions.
In 1963, the ejection of magma from Agung lasted almost a year and caused more than 1,100 deaths.
The Indonesian archipelago sits within the so-called Ring of Fire in the Pacific, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity that is shaken by thousands of tremors every year.
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In biggest haul, drugs worth Rs 51 cr seized in Meghalaya, 2 held
Shillong (PTI): The Meghalaya Police seized drugs worth over Rs 51 crore, the biggest haul of narcotics in the state so far, in East Jaintia Hills district and arrested two Mizoram-based persons in this connection, a senior officer said on Saturday.
The seizure was made during a coordinated naka-checking conducted by the police and Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) personnel in the Ratacherra area on Friday, he said.
During the operation, a vehicle with three persons, including the driver, on board was intercepted and searched in accordance with due legal procedures.
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Upon checking, 19 plastic soap cases, containing suspected heroin weighing 203.7 grams, were recovered from the possession of one of the three persons, the officer said.
The search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a blue-coloured trolley bag belonging to another occupant of the vehicle.
Suspected crystal meth (methamphetamine) tablets weighing 10.145 kilograms were found in the bag, the police officer said.
'Meth' tablets are banned in India.
Two of the three occupants of the vehicle were arrested, and a preliminary investigation suggested that they are part of an interstate and cross-border drug trafficking syndicate, the officer said.
"The total value of the seized contraband is estimated to be around Rs 51.13 crore", ANTF chief Vikash Kumar told PTI.
The arrested persons hail from Mizoram, he said.
A case has been registered at the ANTF police station, and an investigation is underway to establish the forward and backward linkages related to the seizure, the officer added.
