JAKARTA

More than 300 people have been killed since Mount Merapi volcano began erupting late last month, an official said on Sunday, with more than 200,000 people still living in makeshift camps.

Agam Ferdatama, a disaster management official, said the toll had now reached a total of 304.

“Rescuers have recovered more bodies around the volcano and there were others who died from their burn wounds,” he said.

“The number of people living in temporary shelters is 203,449,” he added.

The government reduced the exclusion zone on Friday for the second time in a week because of the volcano’s declining volatility, allowing more refugees to return to their homes.

Merapi, just outside Yogyakarta in Central Java and an hour’s flight from Bali, killed around 1,300 people in 1930 but experts say the current eruptions are its biggest since 1872.