Indonesia
According to rescuers, dozens of hikers were on the volcano when it erupted on Sunday. Three of them were found alive and at least twelve were missing
Guardianship staff and agencies
Indonesian rescuers have found the bodies of eleven mountaineers after the eruption of the Mount Merapi volcano in West Sumatra.
A rescue official said three people were found alive on the volcano and at least 12 climbers were still missing. Another official put the number of missing people at 22.
The search for them was temporarily suspended for safety reasons after a small eruption on Monday forced the search to be suspended, said Jodi Haryawan, spokeswoman for the search and rescue team.
“It is too dangerous if we continue searching now,” he told Portal.
Forty-nine climbers were evacuated from the area on Monday and many were being treated for burns, he said.
“There are 26 people who were not evacuated, we found 14 of them, three were found alive and 11 dead,” Abdul Malik, head of the Padang search and rescue agency, said on Sunday.
He said a total of 75 hikers have been on the mountain since Saturday.
The volcano erupted on Sunday with clouds of white and gray ash, stranding and injuring climbers and spreading volcanic ash across several villages.
Indonesian rescue team evacuates a victim of the Mount Marapi eruption. Photo: Antara Photo/Portal
Two climbing routes were closed after the eruption and residents of Mount Merapi’s slopes were advised to stay 3 km (1.8 miles) from the crater mouth because of possible lava eruptions, said Ahmad Rifandi, an official at the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological hazard defense Merapi monitoring post.
However, around 75 mountaineers made their way to the almost 2,900 meter high mountain on Saturday. More than 160 people, including police and soldiers, were deployed to search for them, said Hari Agustian, an official with the local search and rescue agency in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province.
It was previously reported that eight of those rescued were hospitalized with burns and one had a broken limb, he said.
A video on social media showed the evacuation of the climbers, their faces and hair smeared with volcanic dust and rain.
“Some suffered burns because it was very hot and were taken to hospital,” Rudy Rinaldi, head of the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency, told AFP. “Those who got closer to the crater were injured.”
Rescue teams worked throughout the night to bring the climbers to safety, the West Sumatra Nature Conservation Authority said.
The eruption sent clouds of ash more than 3,000 meters into the air. Falling ash covered several villages and blocked sunlight, said Abdul Muhari, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency. Authorities distributed masks and urged residents to wear glasses to protect themselves from volcanic ash, he said.
About 1,400 people live on the slopes of Merapi. Photo: Antara Photo/Portal
About 1,400 people live on the slopes of Merapi in Rubai and Gobah Cumantiang, the nearest villages are five to six kilometers from the summit.
Merapi’s alert level was kept at the third highest of four levels, Abdul Muhari said, confirming that authorities had been closely monitoring the volcano after sensors registered increasing activity in recent weeks.
Merapi 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.
With Portal, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
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