- Indonesian soldiers (Kopassus) search for victims of Mount Merapi eruption at a village that was hit by pyroclastic flow in Argomulyo, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. A deadly surge of blistering gases cascaded down the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano Friday, torching houses in one mountainside village and triggering a chaotic midnight evacuation. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Trisnadi)
November 06, 2010 (KATAKAMI / THE JAKARTA POST) --- The Indonesian Military (TNI) will set up more field hospitals and public kitchens in several places to serve evacuees from Mt. Merapi eruptions, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said Friday.
BNPB director Wisnu Wijaya told Antara news agency the TNI would deploy a brigade of personnel to support the disaster mitigation efforts, in line with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's order.
The brigade consists of medical, engineering, marine and transport battalions.
Wisnu said the military brigade would set up field hospitals, activate all hospitals in the region and open public kitchens.
The military would also mobilize transport means to help evacuation of people.
The Air Force meanwhile has also prepared six Hercules C-130 and three C-212 Cassa planes at its Abdurahman Saleh airbase in Malang, East Java, in case a mass evacuation of refugees takes place.
The airbase's commander, Air Commodore Agus Dwi Putranto, told reporters the armada of planes had just arrived from a mission to flood-stricken Wasior in West Papua.
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