Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said a volcano has erupted in eastern Indonesia, killing six people and shooting smoke and ash up to 2km (1.2 miles) into the air.

The agency said that Mount Rokatenda in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted early on Saturday morning and that the five were killed by lava flow.

Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated from the area on Palue island. The volcano has been rumbling since October 2012.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 240 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "ring of fire", a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.