Eleven people, including four schoolchildren, were killed Saturday after they were engulfed by scorching ash clouds spat out by Indonesia's Mount Sinabung in its biggest eruption in recent days, officials said.

Eight people were found dead in Sukameriah village, near Mount Sinabung on the western island of Sumatra, four or whom were high school students on a sightseeing trip to the volcano, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.

Three other bodies were recovered from the village in the late afternoon and taken to hospital for identification, Nugroho added.