Hikers missing as Indonesian volcano erupts

Indonesia’s disaster management agency on Friday said three people were missing as Mount Dukono erupted on Indonesia’s remote Halmahera Island. About 15 other hikers who were on or near the mountain during the eruption had already been found alive, several with injuries, the government said.

Two Singaporean hikers and one Indonesian died in the eruption, local police told Indonesian outlet Detik News. It wasn’t immediately clear on Friday if the three missing individuals were the same as those reported dead by police.

The volcano erupted midmorning, sending a thick cloud of ash and gas more than 32,000 feet into the sky, according to Indonesia’s volcano monitoring center. Videos shared on social media showed some hikers scrambling down rocky slopes to get away from the mountain. One man said he felt a deep tremor in the ground before the eruption.

Ash was expected to fall in residential areas to the north of the volcano, according to the volcano center. The mountain had been erupting frequently and explosively since the end of March. The government has warned against climbing Mount Dukono since 2024.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily last year.