JAKARTA, May 8: Sludge has burst through an embankment built around Indonesia's disastrous “mud volcano”, flooding a main road, an official said on Tuesday.

Officials said a large crack had formed in the dyke, which was designed to hold back the massive mud flow in East Java.

“We have managed to repair the crack but the road is still impassable, ”said a government spokesman.

“The road should be opened later tonight after we pump all the (muddy) water away,” Muhammad Zulkarnain said.

The embankment was built after the steaming crater, located near Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya, began spewing mud in May last year following exploratory gas drilling.

The sludge has inundated some 600 hectares, including many homes and factories, leaving 15,000 people homeless.Indonesian experts have tried to halt the flow by plugging the crater with chains of concrete balls -- a bold plan that some say will not work.—AFP