Three climbers have died after the eruption of a volcano in Indonesia’s Mount Dukono – National
Three hikers have died after Indonesia’s Mount Dukono volcano erupted on a remote island, authorities said Friday.
About 20 hikers set out Thursday to climb the nearly 1,355-meter (4,445-foot) volcano on Halmahera island, defying safety restrictions, North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters at the volcano monitoring station in Mamuya village, the Associated Press reported.
Rescue teams were dispatched after receiving an emergency signal in the mountainous area, The Associated Press reported. Three men – two Singaporeans and one Indonesian – died at the scene, Pasaribu said.
Their bodies have not been found due to continued explosions and dangerous conditions.
“So far, 15 passengers have disembarked safely,” Pasaribu said hours after the explosion. Five of those evacuated were reported injured.
Pasaribu added that seven of the climbers who came down were Singaporeans and the other eight were Indonesians.
Hikers were confused when Mount Dukono erupted at 7:41 a.m. local time on Friday, causing a loud noise and sending thick ash rising 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) up the mountain, according to the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia.
“The search has been temporarily suspended today and will resume tomorrow, not because we don’t want to search at night, but because Mount Dukono will continue to erupt,” said Iwan Ramdani, the head of the rescue center in the area, told Reuters.
In this photo released by Badan Geologi, the geological agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Mount Dukono spews volcanic material during an eruption in North Halmahera, Indonesia, on May 8, 2026.
Badan Geologi by AP
Mount Dukono saw a decline in activity in August 2025 but has since recorded 199 eruptions since late March, averaging about 95 eruptions per day, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
Hikers have been banned from climbing the volcano since April 17 after authorities issued a warning because of the active volcano, Pasaribu said. He also added that he will be asking the tour guides how the trip is still going on even though it was banned by the authorities.
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Officials believe the hikers were inside a restricted area at the time of the explosion.
Despite the warning signs on the site, “many people are still willing to climb, driven by the desire to create content online,” Pasaribu said.
Authorities are raising “possible negligence by tourists or people,” Barsanas, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told the BBC in a statement.
“The government continues to gather information to get a full account of this incident,” the statement said.
Global News reached out to Barsanas for further comment, but did not receive a response.
In cellphone photos taken by a witness, climbers can be seen running down the mountain as smoke and ash billow into the sky.
“I hope they’re still alive. Dukono is always dangerous. If it’s really quiet, it means there’s going to be a big explosion,” someone said in the video.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation urges residents living near Mount Dukono to remain vigilant.
Lana Saria, acting head of the Geological Agency in Indonesia, said that citizens are advised to “wear a mask or mouth and nose holes to prevent breathing problems from the volcanic ash.”
“The direction of ash distribution is towards the north, so residential areas and the City of Tobelo must be aware of … volcanic ash rain,” he added.
Mount Dukono is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and has been erupting almost regularly since 1933. Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a hotbed of earthquakes and volcanoes, and is home to more than 120 volcanoes.
Last June, a Brazilian tourist fell hundreds of meters near an erupting volcano in Indonesia. Juliana Marins, 26, was climbing Mount Rinjani with a group led by a tour guide when she slipped and fell off a cliff near Indonesia’s second-highest volcano on June 21, 2025.
On June 24, after a four-day search, Indonesian rescuers finally managed to reach Marins’ body.
“With great sadness, we inform you that he did not survive,” Marins’ family said in a statement on social media. “We are forever grateful for all the prayers, messages of love and support we have received.”
The Brazilian government also confirmed that Marins had been found dead, following days of rescue efforts hampered by severe weather.
-With files from the Associated Press and Reuters
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
