Thousands of villagers on the Indonesian resort island of Bali are sheltering amid fears Mount Agung will erupt for the first time in more than half a century.

Authorities raised the volcano's alert status to the highest level on Friday following a "tremendous increase" in seismic activity.

It last erupted in 1963, killing 1,100 people.

Made Suda said he left overnight with 25 family members to stay in the Klungkung sports centre. Others have taken refuge in village halls and with relatives.

He said: "I feel grief and fear, feel sad about leaving the village and leaving four cows."

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said no-one should be within 9km of the crater and 12km to the north, north-east, south-east and south-southwest.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.