Indonesia ends search for victims of Marapi volcano eruption

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 they had ended a search and rescue mission for any hikers missing or killed in Mount Marapi's eruption on Sumatra island at the weekend that left 23 people dead.

Officials said they believed every missing people had been located despite initial fears some may have used unofficial hiking routes and been unaccounted for.

Ichwan Pratama from the Agam disaster mitigation agency said that all victims had been found and the last victim was found dead, therefore, the search and rescue operation is closed.

West Sumatra police deputy chief Edi Mardianto said on December 6 evening that all rescuers would return to their respective units.

According to the head of Indonesia's volcanology agency, Hendra Gunawan,  Marapi has been at the second level of a four-tier alert system since 2011, and an exclusion zone had been imposed around its crater.

Mount Marapi spewed ash as high as 3,000m into the sky on December 3 as 75 people hiked in the area. Scores were rescued but 23 people were found dead, the last on December 6 evening, in an arduous rescue effort hampered by further eruptions and bad weather that sometimes forced workers to take shelter.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide. Marapi is the most active volcano on Sumatra, and one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago./.