By Ananda Teresia
JAKARTA, May 9 (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities on Saturday located the position of two missing Singaporeans, although it was not known if they were alive, and confirmed the death of an Indonesian female hiker after Mount Dukono erupted on the Pacific island of Halmahera.
“We have identified the coordinates of their locations. It’s around the crater rim,” Iwan Ramdani, the head of Indonesia’s rescue agency, told Reuters. “This is on drone surveillance and is consistent with witness accounts.”
Both appeared to be 20 to 30 metres (65 to 100 feet) from the rim of the main crater, said disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
The Indonesian woman’s body had been recovered and handed to her family, Iwan added.
Located in North Maluku province, the volcano began erupting on Friday, spewing ash as high as 10 km (6 miles).
On Saturday evening, rescuers temporarily halted the search due to continuous eruptions. Operations will be resumed on Sunday, Iwan said. At least 100 rescuers, military and police personnel, as well as two thermal drones, were deployed early on Saturday.
Evacuations were hampered by the extreme terrain and continued eruptions.
Authorities on Friday evacuated 17 people – seven Singaporeans and 10 Indonesians. The hikers told police the three missing people, including the Singaporeans, were dead, police chief Erlichson Pasaribu had said.
Pasaribu said that they are investigating a tour company which provided services for the hikers, over possible negligence that endangered others’ lives.
They have questioned six people but did not arrest them. Police will investigate further why the tour company took tourists to climb Mount Dukono although climbing had been banned.
Pasaribu said hiking to Dukono’s summit has been prohibited since 2024 due to eruptions, and the local government banned all climbing activities in April this year following increased eruptions.
The volcanology agency is maintaining the third-highest alert level for Mount Dukono and bans any activities within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the crater.
There were no reports of flight disruptions caused by the eruption.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia in Jakarta and Xinghui Kok in Singapore; Editing by Kim Coghill, William Mallard, Alexandra Hudson)
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