Workers Trying to Finish Dams Below Mount Kelud

MOUNT KELUD, Indonesia

Workers were rushing to complete a system of dams at one of Indonesia's deadliest volcanos, fearing an eruption could send a wave of superheated mud, rock and ash surging down its slopes.

Volcanologists have warned that Mount Kelud on densely populated Java island is on the verge of a major eruption, with highly pressurized magma forming under its crater lake and smoke clouds shooting a kilometer (half mile) into the sky.

Cement dams up to 20 meters (65 feet) high and six meters (20 feet) thick have been under construction for several months to channel the possible hot mud flows away from villages.

{Associated Press}