Mount Marapi: Eleven hikers killed as volcano erupts in Indonesia - death toll increases to 22 (UPDATE)

Jerome Wirawan & Joel Guinto
BBC
Mon, 04 Dec 2023 12:12 UTC

Eleven hikers have been found dead near the crater of Indonesia's Mount Marapi volcano after it erupted over the weekend, rescuers say.

Twelve others are missing and the search was suspended on Monday after another, smaller eruption.

There were 75 hikers in the area during the main eruption on Sunday but most were safely evacuated.

Marapi spewed a 3km (9,800ft) ash cloud into the air, dimming the sky and blanketing surrounding villages in ash.

It is among the most active of Indonesia's 127 volcanoes and is also popular among hikers. Some trails reopened only last June due to ash eruptions from January to February. Marapi's deadliest eruption occurred in 1979, when 60 people died.

Three people were rescued near the crater on Monday before the search was suspended. They were "weak and had some burns", said Abdul Malik, head of the Padang Search and Rescue Agency.

Forty-nine climbers were evacuated from the area earlier in the day, many of whom also suffered burns.

Authorities did not immediately release the identities of the hikers.

Video footage of Sunday's eruption showed a huge cloud of volcanic ash spread widely across the sky, and cars and roads covered with ash.

Rescue workers took turns carrying the dead and the injured down the mountain's arduous terrain and onto waiting ambulances with blaring sirens.

"Some suffered from burns because it was very hot, and they have been taken to the hospital," said Rudy Rinaldi, head of the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency.

One of the hikers, Zhafirah Zahrim Febrina, appealed to her mother for help in a video message from the volcano. The 19-year-old student, whose nickname is Ife, appeared shocked, her face burnt and her hair matted with thick grey ash.

"Mom, help Ife. This is Ife's situation right now," she said.

She was on a hiking trip in Marapi with 18 school friends and is now in hospital receiving treatment.

Her mother, Rani Radelani, told AFP news agency that her daughter underwent "tremendous trauma".

"She is affected psychologically because she saw her burns, and she also had to endure the pain all night," she said.

Another hiker moaned in pain and said "God is great" as she piggybacked on a rescuer, the news agency reported.

Jodi Haryawan, a spokesperson for the local search and rescue team, told reporters that it would be "too dangerous" to continue searching while the volcano was erupting.

Marapi is located on Sumatra, the westernmost and third largest of Indonesia's 18,000 islands. It stands 2,891m (9,485ft) high.

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

Additional reporting by Hanna Samosir in Jakarta

Comment: Update December 5

The BBC reports:

The death toll from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia has gone up to 22, after rescuers found nine more bodies.

The search for the 10 missing hikers on Mount Marapi resumed on Tuesday after being paused due to safety worries.

Officials said that nine bodies had been recovered by afternoon, with one of them still missing. Twelve other injured hikers are undergoing treatment in hospital.

Frequent volcanic eruptions in Marapi have hampered rescue efforts for days.

Ahmad Rifandi, head of Marapi's monitoring post, told AFP news agency that five eruptions had been recorded on Tuesday alone.

"Marapi is still very much active. We can't see the height of the column because it's covered by the cloud," he said.

Rescuers told BBC News Indonesia they have been taking advantage of windows of relative calm to look for the missing and efforts to look for the last missing hiker would resume on Wednesday.