Indonesia volcano kills three as search for 20 missing hikers under way
Key takeaways
- Mount Dukono erupts on Halmahera island, trapping hikers who went to the area despite it being closed since April 17.
- Iwan Ramdani, the head of the local rescue agency, told the Reuters news agency that they have deployed dozens of personnel, including police, to search for the 20 hikers trapped by the eruption.
- Three hikers, including two foreigners, were killed, police chief Erlichson Pasaribu of North Halmahera told Kompas TV, according to the AFP news agency.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Mount Dukono erupts on Halmahera island, trapping hikers who went to the area despite it being closed since April 17.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo People watch as smoke rises after the eruption of Mount Dukono in North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, Indonesia, on May 8, 2026 [Jhon Frengki Manipa via Reuters]By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026Indonesian authorities are searching for 20 missing hikers after the eruption of Mount Dukono on Halmahera island killed three people.
Mount Dukono, an active volcano, erupted at 07:41am local time on Friday (22:41 GMT on Thursday), spouting a tower of volcanic ash as high as 10km (6.21 miles) into the sky, and was accompanied by a “weak to strong booming sound”, Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said in a statement.