A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on Aug. 10 killing six sleeping people and causing the evacuation of thousands in nearby areas, The Huffington Post reported. 

Officials reportedly said ash and smoke from the Mount Rokatenda volcano in the East Nusa Tenggara province shot about a mile into the air. National Disaster Mitigation Agency reportedly said nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from the town when the volcano, which been rumbling since October, erupted.  

The victims included three adults, whose bodies were recovered from the wreckage, and two children that their remains have yet to be found. One of the adults was a 58-year-old woman, the grandmother of the two children died, CBS News reported today. The sixth person's age is unknown. 

The eruption reportedly lasted about seven minutes. Frans Wangge, who's in charge of the volcanos monitoring post, reportedly said hot lava burned the trees around the villages, making it difficult to reach the location where the victims died. The six fatalities who were swept up and killed by the lava refused to leave the village when they were warned, CBS reported. 

"On their belief, if all the old villagers abandoned the red (danger) zone, then lava will destroy the residential area," Tini Thadeus, head of the local disaster agency, reportedly said from the provincial capital of Kupang. "But unfortunately, not like in the past, lava from Saturday's eruption flowed northward and hit them."

Officials continue to search for the two children on Sunday, but Thadeus reportedly said he was not optimistic about recovering the children's bodies since they were buried under hot volcanic material.

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