Indonesian Authorities are rushing to rescue 20 hikers after Mount Dokono volcano erupted on Halmahera Island on Friday, a local rescue agency official said.
The Mount Dokono volcano, located in North Maluku province, erupted on Friday at 7.41am, spewing volcanic ash up to 10 kilometers (six miles) into the sky, the country’s geology agency said.
The agency’s head, Lana Saria, said in a statement that the agency kept the mountain’s alert status at its third highest level.
Iwan Ramadani, head of the local rescue agency, said they had deployed dozens of personnel, including police, to search for 20 people trapped by the eruption. He added, “Our team is on its way. It has not yet been confirmed whether there are wounded.”
Nine of them are Singaporeans and the rest are Indonesians, according to Iwan.
