The national rescue team, BASARNAS, has yet to verify the fatalities or the nationalities of those involved.
According to North Halmahera Police Chief, Erlichson Pasaribu, nine international tourists and 11 local trekkers were on Mount Dukono during its eruption, as reported by Indonesia’s Kompas TV.
Pasaribu stated on Friday afternoon, local time, that all climbers who survived have safely descended from the mountain.
However, the ongoing volcanic activity has thwarted efforts to recover the bodies of the three victims, Pasaribu noted.
Captured by Indonesian guide Alex Djangu, dramatic footage shows a massive plume of smoke and ash rising from the volcano’s crater.
Djangu, who was leading two German visitors on Mount Dukono, described feeling intense tremors prior to the eruption, telling CNN the experience was “very scary.”
“I saw the small rocks and gravel sliding down because of the tremors, then I told my clients we have to run down,” he said.
While Djangu and his group were able to safely evacuate, he said many hikers remained at the crater at the time of the eruption.
“When we were about 100 metres away, I saw two groups of local tourists, one group of nine people already close to the rim and the other were videoing for content.”
“I hope they are still alive,” he can be heard saying in the video.
The volcano, he said, is highly active and continued to erupt into Friday afternoon “with supersonic sound”.
Mount Dukono is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, with authorities noting increased activity since late March.
“When Mount Dukono does not erupt for several days, people need to be careful because it may be building up very high pressure. And that is what happened today,” Djangu said in the video.
Rescue teams could be seen on the mountain on Friday, and carrying at least one injured person on a stretcher through the forest, in photos from Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency BASARNAS.
Indonesia sits on the “Ring of Fire”, a band around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic activity frequently occur.
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