MOUNT DUKONO ERUPTION KILLS THREE HIKERS; GROUP DEFIED CLIMBING BAN, OFFICIALS SAY
TERNATE, Indonesia — Three hikers were killed and a frantic rescue operation unfolded on the slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono on Friday after the highly active volcano erupted without warning, hurling a towering column of ash into the sky as a group of 20 trekkers scrambled for safety. All survivors have now been found, police said, but the bodies of the dead remain stranded near the crater, out of reach of rescue teams hampered by ongoing explosions and treacherous terrain.
Mount Dukono, on Halmahera island in North Maluku province, erupted at 7:41 a.m. local time on Friday (22:41 GMT Thursday), spewing a dense ash plume that rose an estimated 10 kilometers (6 miles) above the summit, according to the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia. The blast caught a group of local and foreign hikers on the mountain — a trek that authorities say should never have happened, as a climbing ban had been in place for about two weeks because of the volcano’s heightened restlessness.
North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu confirmed that the hiking party consisted of nine Singaporean visitors and 11 Indonesians, including guides and porters. The three who died were two of the Singaporeans and one Indonesian resident from nearby Ternate, officials said.
By mid-morning, police reported that all 15 surviving hikers had been accounted for and evacuated from the mountain. Two local porters, however, voluntarily remained on the volcano to help search-and-rescue teams retrieve the bodies, Pasaribu said. Their efforts have been severely hampered by Mount Dukono, which has continued to belch volcanic ash and rocks, making the summit area “extremely dangerous,” according to a rescuer at the scene.
Aldy, a local resident who joined the rescue operation, said by phone from a shelter roughly 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) below the crater that his team had identified the locations of two of the victims near the summit but had not yet been able to reach them. The exact position of the third body remains unknown.
“From the shelter, we can see ash and rock material continuously being ejected,” Aldy said, his connection repeatedly cutting out due to poor signal. “The conditions at the last shelter are safe; we are currently holding discussions for the rescue operation.”
The tragedy has reignited concerns over illegal trekking on Indonesia’s numerous active volcanoes, which draw tourists undeterred by official closures. Pasaribu said the hikers accessed Dukono despite a widely publicized climbing ban. The restriction had been disseminated through social media warnings and banners prominently placed along access trails. However, the police chief noted that Mount Dukono does not have an official registration post, making it easier for determined climbers to slip onto the route unnoticed.
Aldy expressed his belief that the group deliberately set out to get a closer look at the crater, a common but highly dangerous pursuit at Dukono, one of Indonesia’s most continuously active volcanoes. Despite the ongoing eruptions, he said, villages on the lower slopes remained safe because residential areas are situated relatively far from the crater.
The search for the remaining body and the mission to bring the deceased off the mountain were expected to continue as conditions allowed. The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has more active volcanoes than any other nation — a volatile landscape where the allure of an up-close encounter with the earth’s power can, as it did Friday, turn fatal.
