JAKARTA, May 8 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities are still trying to locate three missing hikers after rescuing 17 people trapped by the volcanic eruption of Mount Dukono on Halmahera island on Friday, a local rescue agency official told Reuters.
Mount Dukono, located in North Maluku province, erupted on Friday at 07:41 a.m. local time (1041 GMT Thursday), spewing volcanic ash as high as 10 km (6.21 miles) into the sky, the country's volcanology agency said.
The agency maintained the alert status
at the mountain at its third highest level, agency head Lana Saria said in a statement.
Footage from the agency showed a huge cloud of hot ash billowing from the crater and blanketing the slopes of the volcano.
Volcanic activities in Mount Dukono decreased last year but picked up again at the end of March, with nearly 200 small-scale eruptions.
The local rescue agency said earlier that 20 hikers were trapped by the eruption, including nine Singaporeans and 11 Indonesians.
Iwan Ramdani, the head of the local rescue agency, told Reuters that 17 had been found and evacuated. It is unclear how many Singaporeans were rescued.
Iwan said the search is still on for the three hikers who remain missing.
Survivors said three people, including two Singaporeans, died in the eruption, local police chief Erlichson Pasaribu told Reuters, but the rescue agency has yet to confirm the deaths.
Pasaribu said climbing in Mount Dukono had been banned since an earlier eruption in 2024.
Authorities warned residents to refrain from any activities within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the crater.
The volcanology agency also warned of the risks of volcanic mudflow when it rains.
There are not yet any reports of flight disruptions caused by the eruption.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity atop various tectonic plates.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by David Stanway)
