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The death toll from an Indonesian volcano that has been rumbling

for months rose to 16 Sunday after rescuers found another charred

corpse and a critically injured college student died in a hospital,

officials said.

Mount Sinabung erupted again Saturday just a day after authorities

allowed thousands of villagers who had been evacuated to return to

its slopes, saying volcanic activity was decreasing. Rescuers found

14 bodies and rescued three people with burn wounds, said

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo

Nugroho.

Rescue efforts resumed Sunday and rescuers found another body

about three kilometers (two miles) from the volcano’s peak, said

Lt. Col. Asep Sukarna, who led the operation. Another resident, a

24-year-old college student died in an intensive care unit, said an

official at the Efarina Etaham hospital.

Among the dead were a local television journalist and four high-

school students and their teacher who were visiting the mountain

to see the eruptions up close, Nugroho said. At least three other

people were injured and authorities fear the death toll will rise.

Sinabung in western Sumatra has been erupting for four months.

Authorities had evacuated more than 30,000 people, housing them

in cramped tents, schools and public buildings, but many were

desperate to return to check on homes and farms.

On Friday, authorities allowed nearly 14,000 people living outside

a five-kilometre danger zone to return after believing volcanic

activity had decreased. Others living close to the peak have been

returning to their homes over the past four months despite the

dangers.

On Saturday, a series of huge blasts and eruptions thundered from

the 2,600-meter volcano. Television footage showed villages, farms

and trees covered in thick gray ash.

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the

Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling

the Pacific Basin. Mount Sinabung is among about 130 active

volcanoes in Indonesia and has sporadically erupted since

September.