1 jam yang lalu
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The joint search and rescue (SAR) team found the victim of the eruption of Mount Dukono, North Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia, around the edge of the crater on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
The Head of Data, Information, and Public Relations Center of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Abdul Muhari, stated that the victim, identified as an Indonesian citizen with the initial E, was found about 50 meters from the crater's edge at 14:30 WIT (Eastern Indonesia Time).
Abdul revealed that, based on the report from the Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of North Halmahera Regency, Hentje M.L. Hetharia, the search process faced obstacles due to volcanic sand material covering the search area with varying thickness.
"This condition was influenced by the fluctuating volcanic activity of Mount Dukono, making it difficult for the team to conduct a search," said Abdul Muhari in his written statement on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
At 14:30 WIT, heavy rain poured on the search location, causing the joint SAR team to temporarily stop the operation until the weather conditions allowed the search to continue. After the rain subsided, the body of the victim, which was previously covered by volcanic sand material, started to become visible. "When found, only the part of the victim's body from the legs to the waist was visible, while the other parts of the body were still buried under volcanic sand," Abdul said.
Upon finding the victim, the joint SAR team immediately carried out the evacuation process carefully in accordance with safety procedures. After the successful evacuation, the victim's body was taken to the eruption handling post before being referred to Tobelo Regional Hospital.
After finding the first victim, the joint SAR team also found two sand material deposition points within a radius of about three meters from the location of the first victim. These two points were strongly suspected to be related to two other victims who were still being searched for.
However, the joint SAR team decided to evacuate the first victim first, considering the safety factor of the personnel in the field. The SAR team took into account the increasingly dark weather towards the evening and the still high volcanic activity of Mount Dukono.
Based on the evaluation of today's SAR operation, the joint team resumed the search on Sunday, May 10, 2026, especially at the two sand material deposition points marked using GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates.
Previously, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation recorded the recurring activities of Mount Dukono. The first eruption occurred from early Saturday morning until 11:00 WIT.
During the first eruption, the PVMBG (Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center) recorded an eruption with glowing lava flows observed from the Mount Dukono Observation Post. The second eruption at 06:10 WIT recorded an ash column reaching a height of 3,000 meters above the peak and heading north.
Andi Adam Faturrahman contributed to the writing of this article.
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