BATU PALANO, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers searching the dangerous slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Marapi volcano found more bodies among climbers caught in a surprise eruption two days ago, bringing the number of confirmed and suspected dead to 23 increased.
More than 50 climbers were rescued after the first eruption on Sunday, and eleven others were initially confirmed dead. Another eruption on Monday sent a fresh burst of hot ash up to 800 meters (2,620 feet) into the air, temporarily halting search operations.
The latest bodies were found not too far from the eruption site, estimated to be just a few meters away, said Edi Mardianto, the deputy police chief of West Sumatra province. The bodies of five climbers have been recovered and 18 are presumed dead because they were so close to the eruption of hot gases and ash.
“The rest we want to evacuate are 18 and we assume they are no longer alive. “The team will evacuate them tomorrow or today and take them to the hospital for identification,” Mardianto said Tuesday.
Rescuers are battling bad weather and restricted terrain as biting winds bring the heat of the eruptions.
A video released by the West Sumatra Search and Rescue Agency showed rescuers evacuating an injured climber on a stretcher from the mountain to a waiting ambulance that took him to hospital.
According to the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Risk Reduction, Marapi has been at the third highest of four alert levels since 2011, a level that indicates above-average volcanic activity and bans climbers and villagers from within three kilometers (1.8 miles) of the peak.
Mountaineers were only allowed below the danger zone and had To at two command points or online. However, local officials acknowledged that many people may have climbed higher than permitted and local residents may also have been in the area, so the number of people stranded by the eruption could not be confirmed.
Marapi spewed thick columns of ash as high as 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) in Sunday’s eruption, and hot ash clouds spread over several kilometers (miles). Surrounding villages and towns were covered in tons of volcanic debris that blocked sunlight, and authorities recommended people wear masks and glasses if possible to protect themselves from the ash.
About 1,400 people live on the slopes of Marapi in Rubai and Gobah Cumantiang, the nearest villages about 5 to 6 kilometers (3.1 to 3.7 miles) from the summit.
Marapi was known for its sudden eruptions, which were difficult to detect because the source is shallow and close to the summit and its eruptions were not caused by deep magma movements that trigger tremors registered on seismic monitors.
Marapi has been active since an eruption in January that caused no casualties. It is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is vulnerable to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that encircles the Pacific basin.
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Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta contributed to this report.