Tsunami survivors make their way past damaged houses after their village was hit by Monday's earthquake-triggered tsunami at Parorogat village, Pagai island, West Sumatra, Indonesia, on Thursday. (Achmad Ibrahim/Associated Press)

SurfAid International, a relief group that works in the area, has been using a surf charter boat to distribute food, water and shelter supplies, but the team was forced to pause their deliveries Thursday because of bad weather.

The death toll rose to 408 on Friday as officials found more bodies, and 303 people were still missing, said Agus Prayitno, of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management centre.

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At least 33 people have died since Mount Merapi started erupting Tuesday, officials say. No new casualties were reported Friday.

Mount Merapi spews smoke as seen from Sidorejo village, in Klaten, Central Java on Friday. (Andry Prasetyo/Reuters)

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Volcano Worry As Tsunami Slams Indonesia

Caption Mount Merapi volcano emits smoke as it is seen from Kinahrejo village near Yogyakarta October 26, 2010. Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted on Tuesday, prompting terrified villagers to flee and join the thousands already evacuated from its slopes.

A volcano eruption on Tuesday afternoon in Central Java of Indonesia has killed 17 people and injured at least 39 after the victims were hit by hot ash, and over 15,000 people have fled their homes, local officials said on Wednesday.

Sixteen people were found dead in one area, and a baby died on the way to hospital, Yogyakarta Disaster and Mitigation Management Agency official Windu Wiryawan said.

"Sixteen bodies have been found in one compound which was covered by ash, and one baby was also killed," he told Xinhua over the phone from Yogyakarta.

Most of the victims' bodies have been severely burned and turned black, according to a local TV report.

Wiryawan said that there were at least 39 people receiving treatment in hospitals for respiratory problems and injuries.

"Many trees fell after being hit by the hot ash, and this hampers the evacuation," he said.

Local authorities have ordered residents within 10 kilometers of the volcano to evacuate the area, said Wiryawan.

"There have been more than 15,000 people taking shelters so far. They live in barracks, schools and makeshift tents," he said.

The 2,968-meter-high Mount Merapi erupted three times on Tuesday, with the first one recorded at 5:02 p.m. Jakarta time ( 1002 GMT).

An observer at the monitoring post for Mount Merapi in Sleman district of Yogyakarta, Heru Saparwoko, told Xinhua on the phone that the situation is under close watch.

Local TV footage showed thousands of panicked residents fled the danger zone by cars or other vehicles to take shelter in areas far from the mountain.

There are still over 40,000 people near the mountain, local officials said.

The previous eruption of Mount Merapi in 2006 killed two people. A 1994 eruption claimed 60 lives. In 1930, a major eruption killed more than 1,000 people.

Indonesia lies in a quake-prone zone called the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the country now has 129 active volcanoes.

Rescue teams resume search as Indonesia volcano erupts

Jakarta - Rescue teams resumed their search for more bodies and survivors Wednesday, one day after Indonesia's most dangerous volcano erupted, killing at least 17 people nad injuring dozens of others, officials and media reports said.

The search was focused on two villages - Kinahrejo and Turgo - located close to the Mount Merapi volcano in the crowded Central Java province, where at least 15 burnt bodies had been found, a rescue official said.

'The search is focused on these two villages south of Merapi's foot for possible survivors or bodies. These two hamlets are the most severely hit by hot ash from the volcano,' the state-run Antara news agency quoted the rescue team commander Aloysius Pramono as saying.

Television footage showed rescue workers using a chainsaw to cut away fallen trees blocking the evacuation routes.

Mount Merapi volcano erupted on Wednesday, spewing clouds of hot ash up to 1.5 km into the sky and sending hot debris south and south- west down its slope. Hundreds of homes and other property were heavily damaged.

Thousands of residents living in the danger zones panicked and ran out of their homes into vehicles waiting to carry them to the evacuation centres. Many initially refused to flee when experts on Monday upgraded the volcano's alert to red and ordered them to immediately abandon their homes.

Television footage showed residents, most wearing masks, being taken away in trucks with windscreens covered by dust.

Metro TV reported that 15 badly burned bodies were found near the house of Mbah Marijan, the man known as the keeper of the mountain, who had refused to leave his home.

Officials at Sardjito and Panti Nugroho hospitals in the city of Yogyakarta, near the volcano, confirmed that 12 bodies had been brought in, while 40 injured people were treated.

The Jakarta-based Vivanews.com news website confirmed that one of its reporters was among the dead.

A 3-month-old baby was dead on the way to Muntilan Hospital in Magelang district, while at least 60 people were treated for respiratory problems from the volcano's dust, said an official who feared that the death toll could continue to rise.

Officials estimated up to 40,000 people live in the endangered areas.

The 2,968-metre volcano about 500-kilometres south-east of Jakarta last erupted in 2006, killing two people.

Its most deadly eruption on record occurred in 1930, when 1,370 people were killed. At least 66 people were killed in a 1994 eruption.

Indonesia has the highest density of volcanoes in the world with about 500 in the 'Belt of Fire' in the 5,000-kilometre-long archipelago nation. Nearly 130 are active and 68 are listed as dangerous.