Indonesia rushes to rescue 20 hikers, including 9 Singaporeans, after Mount Dukono eruption

JAKARTA - Twenty people, nine of them from Singapore, were reported missing on Friday (May 8) after Mount Dukono on Indonesia's eastern Halmahera island erupted, spewing a smoke cloud some 10km into the air.

"Our team is on its way. It is not yet confirmed if there are injured people. Based on reports, there are about 20 people being searched for," search and rescue official Iwan Ramdani said by telephone.
He confirmed the 20 were all hikers, even though the area had been closed to visitors since Apr 17 after scientists observed an increase in volcanic activity.

Three of the hikers have died, police said to local broadcaster Kompas TV.

BBC News Indonesia and Tribun Ternate reported that two victims were from Singapore, although there has been no official confirmation of the fatalities.  

Mount Dukono, located in North Maluku province, erupted on Friday at 7.41am local time (8.41am, Singapore time).

Lana Saria, head of the government Geology Agency, said the early-morning eruption was accompanied by a "booming sound".
The smoke could be dangerous for public health, Lana added, and risked disrupting transportation services.
Mount Dukono is currently on the third-highest alert level of Indonesia's four-tiered alert system.

Since December, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has recommended that tourists and climbers do not come within 4km of the volcano's Malupang Warirang Crater.

Iwan Ramdani, the head of the local rescue agency, told Reuters that they have deployed dozens of personnel, including police, to search for the 20 hikers.

Apart from the nine Singaporeans, the rest are Indonesians, Iwan said.
There are not yet any reports of flight disruptions caused by the eruption.
Mount Dukono is one of three volcanoes on the Halmahera Island. It has been erupting continuously since 1933, with frequent ash explosions and sulfur dioxide plumes.

On Apr 6, it erupted when a group was trekking nearby. No casualties were reported.

Unlike Indonesia’s more tourist-friendly volcanoes, Mount Dukono sits far from the country’s main travel routes. Reaching it from Jakarta typically involves flights to Ternate, a boat crossing to Halmahera, and a long overland drive to Tobelo in North Halmahera before the trek even begins. 

Hikers typically travel through dense forest before reaching barren volcanic terrain coated in ash and sulfur deposits.