Three hikers have died following an explosive eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono volcano on a distant island, authorities said Friday.
About 20 climbers set out Thursday to ascend the nearly 1,355-metre (4,445-foot) volcano on the island of Halmahera, in defiance of safety restrictions, North Halmahera police Chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters on the volcano monitoring station in Mamuya village, The Associated Press reports.
Rescue teams were deployed after receiving an emergency signal from the mountain area, The Associated Press reports. Three men — two Singaporean and one Indonesian national — died on the scene, Pasaribu said.
Their bodies haven’t yet been recovered because of continued eruptions and dangerous conditions.
“Up to now, 15 climbers have safely descended,” Pasaribu said several hours after the eruption. Five of those evacuated were reported injured.
Pasaribu added that seven of the hikers who climbed down were Singaporean and the opposite eight were Indonesian.
The hikers became stranded when Mount Dukono erupted at 7:41 a.m. local time on Friday, causing a big booming sound and sending a thick ash column that rose 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) above the summit, in keeping with the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia.
“The search has been temporarily closed today and can resume tomorrow, not because we don’t want to go looking at night, but because Mount Dukono will proceed to erupt,” Iwan Ramdani, the top of the local rescue agency, told Reuters.
On this photo released by the Badan Geologi, the geological agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Dukono releases volcanic materials during an eruption in North Halmahera, Indonesia, on May 8, 2026.
Badan Geologi via AP
Mount Dukono saw a decrease in activity in August 2025 but has since recorded 199 eruptions since late March, averaging about 95 eruptions a day, in keeping with the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
Hikers have been banned from climbing the volcano since April 17 after authorities sent out an alert because of the lively volcano, Pasaribu said. He added that he can be questioning the hikers’ tour guides about how the trek still went ahead despite restrictions from authorities.
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Officials imagine the hikers were inside a restricted zone on the time of the eruption.
Despite warnings on signs at the positioning, “many individuals remain determined to climb, driven by the need to create online content,” Pasaribu said.
Authorities suggest “possible negligence by tourism operators or individuals,” Barsanas, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told the BBC in an announcement.
“The federal government is continuous to collect information to ascertain a whole account of the incident,” the statement said.
Global News has reached out to Barsanas for further comment, but has not received a response.
In cellphone footage captured by a witness, hikers are seen rushing down the mountain as an enormous plume of smoke and ash rises into the sky.
“I hope they’re still alive. Dukono is at all times dangerous. When it’s really quiet, it means an enormous eruption is coming,” someone will be heard saying within the video.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation is urging residents living near Mount Dukono to stay vigilant.
Lana Saria, acting head of the Geological Agency in Indonesia, said residents are advised to “wear masks or mouth and nose coverings to forestall respiratory issues from volcanic ash.”
“The direction of the ash distribution leans northward, so residential areas and Tobelo City should be vigilant for … volcanic ash rain,” she added.
Mount Dukono is one in all Indonesia’s most lively volcanoes and has been erupting almost constantly since 1933. Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity, and is home to greater than 120 lively volcanoes.
Last June, a Brazilian tourist fell a whole bunch of feet near an lively volcano in Indonesia. Juliana Marins, 26, was climbing Mount Rinjani with a bunch led by a tour guide when she slipped and fell off a cliff on the side of the mountain near Indonesia’s second-highest volcano on June 21, 2025.
On June 24, following a four-day search, Indonesian rescue staff were finally capable of reach Marins’ body.
“With great sadness, we inform you that she didn’t survive,” Marins’ family said in an announcement on social media. “We remain very grateful for all of the prayers, messages of affection and support that now we have received.”
Brazil’s government also confirmed that Marins was found dead, following days of rescue efforts that were hampered by difficult weather conditions.
—With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
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