A pyroclastic flow descended Mount Merapi's western flank on 14 January 2026, captured in 28 seconds of footage that shows dark ash clouds and debris cascading down the volcano's slopes under overcast skies. The flow is not lava but something far more dangerous: a superheated avalanche of gas, rock fragments, and ash moving at speeds exceeding 100 kilometres per hour, with temperatures reaching 700 degrees Celsius or higher. Nothing in its path survives. Trees incinerate. Buildings collapse. Peo