Indonesia's Marapi volcano erupts for the second day

5/12/2023 13:14

        Indonesian authorities halted the search for 12 climbers after Mount Marapi volcano erupted again Monday, spewing a new burst of hot ash as high as 800 meters (2,620 feet) into the air, officials said.
        
        The bodies of 11 climbers were recovered earlier in the day but attempts to move them were hindered by the renewed eruption, West Sumatra’s Search and Rescue Agency head Abdul Malik said. The search operation would resume once conditions improved, he added.
        
        A video released by the agency showed rescuers evacuating an injured climber on a stretcher off the mountain and into a waiting ambulance to be taken to hospital.
        
        Marapi initially erupted on Sunday spewing clouds of hot ash.
        
        The volcano has stayed at the third highest of four alert levels since 2011, a level indicating above-normal volcanic activity, prohibiting climbers and villagers within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the peak, said Hendra Gunawan, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.