Volcano eruption triggers flight suspensions at Indonesia's main airport

BREAKING: Volcanic eruption at Mount Anak Krakatoa forces the suspension of 209 flights at Indonesia's main airport near Jakarta, impacting more than 22,000 passengers after ash was detected in the airspace.

Two hundred and nine flights suspended at Jakarta's main airport this morning.

Mount Anak Krakatoa, out in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, started erupting late Friday night, lava fountains, booming sounds, constant seismic activity. Two more eruptions came early on Sunday, and when ash drifted into the airspace near Soekarno-Hatta, authorities shut it down. More than 22,000 passengers are stuck, and these pictures show them waiting it out in the terminal with their luggage.

The suspension mainly hits routes to Singapore, plus Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, and it's been extended into the afternoon. There's no tsunami warning, which matters with this volcano's history. The health minister is telling residents nearby to stay indoors and wear masks against the ash.

Anak Krakatoa means Child of Krakatoa. It rose from the sea in the caldera left by the 1883 eruption, and it has never really gone quiet since.

This is Kateryna Kovalenko, reporting for HIT.