Eleven climbers were found dead while three survivors were rescued after the Mount Merapi volcano erupted in Indonesia on Sunday, authorities confirmed.
The 2,891-metre-high volcano, located in West Sumatra province, spewed scorching ash up to 3 km into the atmosphere on Sunday afternoon. This led to a level-2 volcano alert being issued, banning people from going within 3 km of the crater.
A 75-member climbing group was exploring areas around the volcano when the sudden eruption took place. Rescue ops had to be temporarily halted due to safety issues.
“It’s too dangerous to continue searching now,” said Jodi Haryawan, spokesperson for the local search team that found 11 dead bodies on Monday. The team also rescued 3 survivors.
Earlier 49 other climbers from the affected group had been successfully evacuated, many requiring treatment for burn injuries.
Situated on the seismically active Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes. Their periodic eruptions have repeatedly caused major loss of human lives while damaging infrastructure.
