Dorothy

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.

Seventeen people were safely evacuated hours after the eruption, including seven Singaporean nationals. Ten of those evacuated had suffered minor burns, while two were able to join the rescue operation and provided information to help locate those missing.

“The search operation was repeatedly disrupted by Mount Dukono’s continued volcanic activity,” Ramdani said, “Teams must be extremely careful during the evacuation process.”

“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.”

The National Disaster Management Agency said the search and rescue operation was now closed.

Mount Dukono is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Indonesia, an archipelago nation of more than 270 million people, sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.

The AP added, “Mount Dukono is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and has been erupting almost continuously since 1933. Indonesia sits along the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire,’ an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity, and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The search operation that involved more than 100 personnel supported by drones resumed early Saturday, focusing on a 700 square-meter (7,500 square-foot) area where clues were found during earlier searches, despite hazardous terrain and continuing eruptions, according to Ramdani.

Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported multiple eruptions from early Saturday through late morning, including ash columns rising as high as 3,000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet) above the crater. Lava bursts were also observed overnight from a monitoring post near the volcano.

Local authorities formally closed all hiking routes to Mount Dukono in April and reinforced the ban following Friday’s incident. The National Disaster Management Agency warned that entering restricted zones could result in legal sanctions.

“The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation has long banned activities within a 4‑kilometer (2.5‑mile) radius of Dukono’s crater, citing hazards such as volcanic bombs, ashfall, and toxic gases,” the AP reports. “Officials believe the hikers were inside the restricted zone at the time of the eruption.”