Indonesia volcano toll rises to 11 as search halted by renewed eruption

• Eleven hikers were found dead after a volcano eruption in Indonesia.
• Three people were rescued and are in stable condition.
• The search for the remaining 12 missing people has been suspended.

Rescuers report that eleven hikers were discovered dead close to the crater of Indonesia’s Marapi volcano following its eruption over the weekend.

On Monday, three people were saved. A modest eruption has forced the suspension of the search for the remaining 12 missing people.

During the eruption, there were seventy-five hikers in the area; however, the majority had been safely evacuated.

One of the 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia, Mount Marapi, erupted ash on Sunday and reached a height of 3 km (9,800 feet).

Residents are not allowed to go within three kilometers of the crater, and authorities have implemented the second-highest warning level.

Abdul Malik, the chief of the Padang Search and Rescue Agency, stated that the three individuals who were saved and discovered close to the crater were “weak and had some burns.” A large number of the 49 climbers who were evacuated from the region early on Monday had burns.

During the eruption on Sunday, a massive cloud of volcanic ash was visible in the sky, covering automobiles and roadways in ash.

Rescuers alternated in taking the injured and dead down the steep mountainside and onto ambulances that were waiting with sirens blasting.

“Some suffered from burns because it was very hot, and they have been taken to the hospital,” stated Rudy Rinaldi, the director of the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency.

As she piggybacked on a rescuer, one of the hikers who had been rescued groaned in agony and exclaimed, “God is great,” according to an international news agency.

The local search and rescue team’s spokesperson, Jodi Haryawan, informed reporters that it would be “too dangerous” to carry out further search operations while the volcano was erupting.

Situated on the westernmost island of Sumatra in Indonesia, stands the 2,891-meter (9,485-foot) tall Mount Marapi.

The Indonesian archipelago is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity caused by the collision of continental plates.

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