JAKARTA, Indonesia — Rescuers on Saturday recovered the body of an Indonesian woman who was caught in a volcanic eruption at Mt. Dukono on Indonesia’s remote island of Halmahera a day earlier, as search operations continued to find the bodies of two Singaporeans, officials said.
The dead were among 20 hikers who set out to ascend the 4,445-foot volcano in defiance of safety restrictions and became stranded when Dukono erupted early Friday, spewing a thick ash column that rose about 6 miles into the air.
The woman, identified by authorities only as Enjel and known as a local hiker, was located Saturday afternoon, about 165 feet from the rim of the main crater, said Iwan Ramdani, who heads the local Search and Rescue Office. The location of the bodies of two Singaporean climbers remains unknown, and rescue teams are continuing operations amid high volcanic activity, he said.
“The rescue efforts went through a situation that required careful calculation and a well-planned evacuation strategy,” Ramdani said. “We took into account the potential escalation of volcanic activity as well as the safety of all personnel.”
Hours after the eruption, 17 climbers had been safely evacuated, including seven Singaporean nationals and two Indonesians who eventually joined the rescue operation and provided information on climbing routes of the victims before the eruption. Ten of those evacuated suffered minor burn injuries.
The search operation, involving more than 100 personnel supported by drones, resumed early Saturday, focusing on a 7,500-square-foot area where clues were found during earlier searches, despite hazardous terrain and continuing eruptions, according to Ramdani.
He said rescuers were prioritizing safety because Dukono’s volcanic activity remains elevated.
“The main challenge in this search effort is that we are racing against ongoing eruptions,” Ramdani said in a video statement. “When the authorities declare conditions safe, we move closer to the crater area, but when an eruption occurs, we must immediately secure all search personnel from potential danger.”
Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported multiple eruptions from early Saturday through late morning that produced ash columns as high as 10,000 feet above the crater. Lava bursts were also observed overnight from a monitoring post near the volcano.
Mt. Dukono has been on the second-highest alert level status since 2008. Authorities enforced a 2½-mile exclusion zone around the active crater in December 2024.
Local authorities formally closed all hiking routes to Mt. Dukono in April and reinforced the ban after Friday’s incident. The National Disaster Management Agency warned that entering restricted zones could result in legal penalties.
The agency urged climbers and tour operators to comply with safety recommendations, noting that similar restrictions apply to dozens of other active volcanoes across the country currently at elevated alert levels.
Indonesia, an archipelago nation of more than 270 million people, sits along the Pacific Ocean‘s so-called Ring of Fire and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.
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