Rescuers evacuate one of the victims who died on Mount Marapi when it erupted on December 3, in Agam, West Sumatra province, on December 5, 2023. (Photo: AFP) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian authorities on December 7 said theyhad ended a search and rescue mission for any hikers missing or killed in MountMarapi's eruption on Sumatra island at the weekend that left 23 peopledead.
Officials said they believed every missing people had been locateddespite initial fears some may have used unofficial hiking routes and beenunaccounted for.
Ichwan Pratama from the Agam disaster mitigation agency said thatall victims had been found and the last victim was found dead, therefore, the search and rescue operation is closed.
WestSumatra police deputy chief Edi Mardianto said on December 6 evening that allrescuers would return to their respective units.
According to the headof Indonesia's volcanology agency, Hendra Gunawan, Marapi has been at the second level of afour-tier alert system since 2011, and an exclusion zone had been imposedaround its crater.
Mount Marapi spewed ash as high as 3,000m into the skyon December 3 as 75 people hiked in the area. Scores were rescued but 23 people were found dead, the last on December6 evening, in an arduous rescue effort hampered by further eruptions and badweather that sometimes forced workers to take shelter.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activitydue to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonicplates collide. Marapi is the most active volcano on Sumatra, and one of nearly130 active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago./.
