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Jakarta: On Monday, a local rescue official said at least 11 hikers have been found dead after a volcano erupted in western Indonesia. According to the local rescue the eruption, which occurred on the island of Sumatra, claimed the lives of these individuals while leaving several others missing.
Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra, with a peak of 2,891 metres (9,484 feet), erupted Sunday sending a tower of ash 3,000 metres into the sky. Abdul Malik, the head of Padang Search and Rescue Agency, revealed that 26 people were yet to be evacuated, with rescue teams successfully locating 14 of them.
Tragically, 11 were found lifeless, marking a grim aftermath of the volcanic eruption. He said there were a total of 75 hikers on the mountain from Saturday who rescue workers were trying to account for. Twelve were still missing and 49 had descended, some of whom had been taken to hospital, he said.
West Sumatra’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency said rescue teams were working throughout the night to help bring the climbers down safely. Rudy Rinaldi, head of the West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency, told media that some of the rescued hikers were receiving medical treatment.
He said, “Some people got burnt due to extreme heat and have been taken to the hospital.” “The people who were injured are those who got close to the crater.”
Marapi is at the second alert level of Indonesia’s four-tier system and authorities have imposed a three-kilometre exclusion zone around its crater.
The Indonesian archipelago lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.There are approximately 130 active volcanoes in the Southeast Asian country.
