Airlines cancelled flights to and from Jakarta on Saturday, affecting carriers from Europe to Asia, because of ash from the Mount Merapi volcano.

Indonesia's most active volcano killed 69 people on Friday in its biggest eruption in more than a century.

Indonesian scientists on Wednesday again placed Mount Merapi on its highest-alert level a day after the volcano had been downgraded, meaning they believe an eruption is imminent. Potentially deadly heat clouds streaming from Merapi's peak caused panic among some villagers living around the volcano's slopes.

Indonesia on Tuesday downgraded its top alert on Mount Merapi volcano as scientists said they no longer believe an eruption is imminent. Merapi -- whose name means "Mountain of Fire" -- was put on red alert on May 13 and its activity has fluctuated since then. It has declined substantially since Friday when part of a lava dome forming at its peak collapsed.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi continued to spew lava and searing clouds of gas and ash on Sunday as geologists maintained the top danger alert on the smouldering volcano. Despite losing a huge chunk of the lava dome forming at its peak on Friday, which lessened the danger of a major eruption, geologists said the volcano still posed a threat.

Thousands of Indonesians, already shaken from an earthquake last month, were evacuated from the slopes of a trembling volcano as it threatened to spark a second emergency on Wednesday. More than 15 000 people have been whisked from the slopes of Mount Merapi, which has been on red alert since May 13.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi appeared calm again on Thursday as hundreds of evacuees drifted back home, unconvinced they were in danger from the simmering volcano. But scientists warned that despite an apparent slowdown in the growth of a magma-filled dome at its peak, the volcano remained temperamental.

Thousands of villagers began fleeing their homes in the path of red-hot lava flows oozing from Indonesia's Mount Merapi on Saturday as officials said an eruption looked imminent. But many residents were still reluctant to leave their homes, despite a mandatory evacuation order, they said.