One person died and 188 residents were evacuated after a massive fire swept through at least 170 buildings in a residential area on the island of Kyushu, southern Japan, authorities reported on Wednesday.

The regional government confirmed one fatality. Public broadcaster NHK reported that police, who had been searching for a missing 76-year-old man, found a body inside his home.

Footage recorded on Tuesday night showed firefighters spraying water on towering flames engulfing homes, while residents were escorted to an improvised evacuation center.

“The flames rose so high they turned the sky red. The wind was strong. I never imagined it would spread so far,” a man told NHK.

“I was shaking with fear. I had never seen a column of fire like that,” another witness said.

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The fire broke out late Tuesday, with at least 170 buildings affected. According to NHK, the blaze spread rapidly, likely fueled by a lack of rainfall, dry air, and the tightly packed wooden houses characteristic of the area.

Mount Semeru, located in eastern Java and about 310 kilometers west of the popular tourist destination of Bali, erupted at 07:13 GMT, spewing pyroclastic flows, according to Indonesia’s geological agency chief, Muhamad Wafid.

“The public is advised to refrain from any activity within an 8-kilometer radius of the crater or summit of Mount Semeru due to the risk of falling volcanic rocks,” the official said in a statement. The national disaster management agency reported that the ash column rose as high as 13 kilometers.

Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari added that at least 300 residents living near the volcano were evacuated to two temporary shelters. No casualties have been reported so far.

The geological agency also noted that seismic activity at Mount Semeru remains high.

Authorities at Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport stated that flights are operating normally for the time being.

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A previous eruption of Semeru in 2021 killed more than 50 people, damaged over 5,000 homes, and forced nearly 10,000 residents to seek refuge.

Indonesia is home to nearly 130 active volcanoes.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced on Saturday that the United States will restore ambassador-level diplomatic relations with Bolivia after 17 years. The statement came during his visit to La Paz to attend the inauguration of Bolivia’s new president, Rodrigo Paz Pereira.

In a brief appearance before the media, Landau noted that in recent weeks Washington had maintained “very close relations with the president-elect.”
“And now that he is officially president, we will restore relations at the ambassador level, as it should have always been,” he said, speaking alongside President Paz.

Landau described it as “highly unusual” and “very unfortunate” that the two nations have spent years without ambassadors in each other’s capitals — Washington, D.C., and La Paz.

“Diplomacy is ultimately about communication. Without an ambassador in the other country’s capital, that becomes more difficult,” the U.S. official emphasized, expressing hopes that the appointment of new ambassadors will be announced “very soon.”

He also recalled that President Paz has expressed his interest in maintaining a strong bilateral relationship, adding that the United States “reciprocally wants to establish a good relationship with this new Bolivian government.”

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For his part, President Paz thanked the U.S. delegation led by Landau for attending his inauguration and asked him to “convey a message of cordiality and friendship” to President Donald Trump and all levels of the U.S. government.