Rescue teams continue searches in the mountainous area as volcanic activity increases
Three mountaineersincluding two foreigners, died and 10 are considered missing after the eruption of a volcano this Friday (8) on the Indonesian island of Halmahera.
“There are three dead, two foreigners and one resident of the island of Ternate”, in the eastern region of Indonesia, Erlichson Pasaribu, police chief of North Halmahera province, told the Kompas TV channel.
Seven people managed to escape, according to the police officer, but remained missing in an area declared off-limits to visitors last month after scientists observed an increase in volcanic activity.
According to Indonesia’s disaster relief agency, BNPB, five climbers were injured in the eruption.
Rescuers “continue to search the mountainous area as volcanic activity increases,” said BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari.
Erlichson explained that the Rescue operation takes place in rough terrain, which only allows vehicle access to a certain point.
“For the rest of the journey, the victims need to be transported on stretchers. And we still hear loud bangs from the eruption. This delays our operation,” he said.
Lana Saria, director of the government’s Geological Agency, said the early morning eruption was accompanied by a “deafening noise” and a column of smoke that reached 10 kilometers high from the top of Mount Dukono.
O Dukono is on the third alert level highest of Indonesia’s four-tier warning system.
Since December, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Risk Mitigation (PVMBG) has recommended that tourists and mountaineers do not come closer than four kilometers to the Malupang Warirang crater.
Erlichson said climbers ignored warning signs.
