It was declared a red zone when the volcano began spewing hot clouds of ash that reached up to 2 miles high at 9:48 a.m. GMT on Saturday.
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Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images News/Getty ImagesKARO, NORTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA – JUNE 19: Local farmers work in their fields as Mount Sinabung spews pyroclastic smoke, seen from Simpang Empat village on June 19, 2015 in Karo District, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Soldiers were setting up roadblocks and people were carrying their belongings and leading farm animals to safety.
Two other people are in critical condition as officials warn the volcano could erupt again, USA Today reported.
Mr Nugroho said soldiers, police, and rescuers from disaster-combating agencies, as well as volunteers and villagers, were searching for more possible victims.
The death toll from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia has climbed to seven, with fears more could be trapped by hot ash.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced since Sinabung had erupted back to life in 2013 after a period of inactivity.
Numerous villagers were farming in the four-kilometre “red zone” established around the volcano by Indonesian authorities in 2014, following an earlier eruption at Sinabung which killed 16 people.
Indonesia, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, has more than 120 active volcanoes.
Sixteen people had died during a particularly fierce eruption in 2014, and Sinabung remains at the highest alert level. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, officals said.
According to reports, all seven of the deceased were working on their farms in Gamber Village.
“Six died, and three others remain critical with burns”.
Mount Sinabung experiences frequent activity and often prompts evacuations from its surrounding areas.
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Coffins containing the bodies of the victims in the eruption of Mount Sinabung are lowered into a grave during a funeral in Sukandebi, North Sumatra.
