Eleven people have been found dead after the eruption of a volcano in western Indonesia, the person in charge of rescue operations told news agency France-Presse (AFP) on Monday.
“There were 26 people who were not evacuated, we found 14, three were found alive and 11 dead,” said Abdul Malik, head of Padang’s search and rescue department.
The eruption of Mount Merapi, on the island of Sumatra, started on Sunday.
Abdul Malik said there were a total of 75 hikers on the mountain on Saturday. Twelve of them are still missing and 49 came down from the mountain, some of whom were taken to hospital.
Ash projected from Mount Merapi has been detected up to 3,000 meters above the summit, Hendra Gunawan, head of the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazards, said on Sunday.
Rescue teams worked through the night to help the hikers find a safe place, the West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency said.
Rudy Rinaldi, director of the West Sumatra disaster management agency, told AFP that some of the rescued hikers were receiving medical treatment.
“Some suffered burns from the intense heat and were taken to hospital,” he said. “The injured are those who approached the crater,” he added.
Merapi is 2,891 meters high and the name means ‘the mountain of fire’. According to authorities, it is currently at the third alert level, on a scale of four.
Authorities have established a three-kilometer exclusion zone around the crater.
Indonesia lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet and generate significant volcanic and seismic activity. The country has almost 130 active volcanoes.
Source: DN
