Indonesia volcano eruption leaves 270,000 stranded as airports extend closure

Some 270,000 passengers have been left stranded across Indonesia after a volcanic eruption grounded more than 2,000 flights and forced airports to suspend operations for a second day.

Anak Krakatau, located 150km (90mi) from Jakarta, began erupting late on Friday, producing lava fountains and sending volcanic ash into the capital and the Lampung province. It stayed seismically active throughout the weekend.

Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International and three other airports have extended closures till 18:00 local time on Monday after volcanic ash was detected in airspaces near them.

Schools in the region moved classes online while some shipping operations were also disrupted.

Snaking queues formed at the departure halls in Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday as stranded passengers sought refunds and tried to get updates on when they would be able to fly.

Finna, who was supposed to fly home to Jakarta from Malang, a city in East Java, on Sunday morning, described the frezny at the airport as flights got repeatedly rescheduled.

"It was very crowded because passengers from the morning flights had piled up, while those scheduled for later departures still didn't know what would happen," the 46-year-old told BBC Indonesian.

Not wanting to deal with the uncertainty, Finna eventually spent the night on two intercity trains before arriving in Jakarta at 03:00 on Monday.