Indonesia rescuers evacuate all climbers from Marapi volcano after eruption killed 23

TANAH DATAR, Indonesia – Rescuers have evacuated all of the climbers who were trapped on Indonesia’s Marapi volcano after it erupted this week, killing 23 people, a spokesperson for the search and rescue agency said on Dec 6.

There were 75 climbers at the time on the 2,891m-high Marapi, one of Sumatra’s most active volcanoes, when it began spewing grey clouds of ash as high as 3km into the sky on Dec 3.

Mr Jodi Haryawan, a spokesman for the rescue team, said

one missing climber was found the afternoon of Dec 6.

On Dec 5, the rescuers evacuated 22 bodies from the volcano.

All the climbers were accounted for following the rescue earlier of dozens, many of whom were wounded or burned by the eruption.

The evacuation process was hampered by the difficult terrain and seven small eruptions.

On Dec 6, a funeral was held for 20-year-old climber Yasirli Amri in the village of Turawan in West Sumatra’s Tanah Datar region.

A video that Ms Yasrili filmed of herself awaiting rescue after the volcano erupted went viral on social media. In it, she is seen lying down, her face caked in thick, grey ash, as she struggles to breathe.

“My sister was still holding her mobile phone, and she tried to ask for help through social media,” Mr Fransua Mitra, Ms Yasirli’s brother, said at the funeral, adding it was her first time climbing a mountain.

Mr Ridho Maulana Putra, her close friend, described her as “a good person and always smiling”.

The eruption on Dec 3 of Marapi was the deadliest since 1979 when an eruption killed 60 people. It last erupted in January and February 2023.

Indonesia straddles the so-called Ring of Fire, which is home to more than 100 active volcanoes. REUTERS