Twelve hikers are still unaccounted for after a volcanic explosion on Indonesia’s Mount Marapi left eleven dead.
The tragedy started on Sunday when the 2,891-meter volcano on Sumatra island erupted, sending a massive column of ash 3,000 meters into the sky.
Teams of rescue workers started working nonstop through the night to find and save hikers who had become stuck on the mountain as soon as possible.
A river of ash was released by the eruption, damaging neighboring settlements and leaving survivors with fractures and burns.
The hikers who perished were discovered close to the volcano’s crater, according to local rescue officials, while 49 others—some of whom suffered injuries—managed to descend.
About 120 rescuers are involved in the hunt for the missing people; they are rescuing the injured and stuck by hand because helicopter support is not possible due to the continuous eruptions.
Periodic eruptions made rescue operations difficult, but officials stressed that the search went on in spite of the dangers.
A few survivors were discovered close to the crater, and one terrifying video depicts a rescuer in the dead of night taking a wounded hiker to safety.
Zhafirah Zahrim Febrina, 19, who begged her mother for assistance in a video message, is one of the hikers who was saved.
When the explosion happened, Febrina was trekking with eighteen of her schoolmates. She is being treated mentally in a local hospital after suffering through the night in agony and seeing burns.
The third-largest city in West Sumatra, Bukittinggi, received ash rain as a result of the eruption. Ash covered the nearby cars, scooters, and ambulances, and locals noticed a brief obstruction of sunlight.
According to Indonesia’s four-step alert system, Mount Marapi is currently at the second alert level, which has prompted officials to create a three-kilometer exclusion zone surrounding its crater. There were burns on at least eight hikers who were rescued, indicating how dangerous the area around the erupting volcano was.
Families are eagerly awaiting word as the hunt for the missing hikers gets more intense. When a member of the rescue services confirmed Febrina’s safety via a livestream on TikTok, her family was filled with relief.
With about 130 active volcanoes spread out across the nation, the Indonesian archipelago, which is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, is vulnerable to intense seismic and volcanic activity.
