authorities end search after eruption of Marapi volcano which left 23 dead

The final toll was 23 dead. Indonesian authorities announced that they had ended the search after the eruption of the Marapi volcano, in western Indonesia, on Thursday December 7.

“All victims have been found, the last victim was found dead”, said the head of the Agam disaster mitigation agency, after the body of the last hiker still being sought was discovered on Wednesday. In total, 75 hikers registered to access the slopes of the volcano had been listed by the authorities since Saturday, and 52 had been brought back alive by emergency services.

But other walkers may have climbed the volcano without officially registering, a local police chief said Wednesday. “We will continue to activate the emergency station in case there are still families looking for their loved ones, they can come here by providing valid data”added the manager.

A 3 kilometer exclusion zone

The head of Indonesia’s volcanology agency, Hendra Gunawan, appeared to criticize the hikers on Monday for getting too close to the crater. Marapi, whose name means “mountain of fire” in the local language, had been at the second alert level on a scale of four since 2011. A 3-kilometer exclusion zone had been imposed around its crater.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes significant volcanic and seismic activity. The country has nearly 130 active volcanoes.