BRILLIANT blue flames light up the night sky above Kawah Ijen, casting an eerie electric glow as they flow down the sides of the active volcano in remote Indonesia.
Hot sulphuric gases – escaping at high pressure through cracks in the mountain – ignite upon contact with air, burning a fantastic, iridescent blue. This strange natural phenomenon can also create “blue lava” – rivers of burning liquid sulphur that stream from the vast crater.
The gases burn day and night at this spectacular volcano in the extreme east of Java island, but its characteristic blue hue can only be observed
Andhra Pradesh minister K. Atchannaidu visits the spot after a stampede occurred at Venkateswara temple, at Kasibugga in Srikakulam district, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (PTI Photo)
