Bodies of 11 climbers recovered and 12 remain missing after Mount Marapi erupts in Indonesia

Teams are working in relays through the thick jungle to take the injured to safety, ITV News Correspondent John Ray reports

The bodies of 11 climbers have been recovered after a furious eruption of the Mount Marapi volcano as Indonesian rescuers search for 12 apparently still missing.

Marapi has stayed at the third highest of four alert levels since 2011, a level indicating above normal volcanic activity and prohibiting climbers or villagers within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the peak, said Hendra Gunawan, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.

“This means that there should be no climbing to the peak,” Gunawan said, adding that climbers were only allowed below the danger zone.

"But sometimes many of them broke the rules to fulfill their satisfaction to climb further.”

About 75 climbers had started their way up the nearly 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) mountain on Saturday and became stranded.

Eight of those rescued on Sunday were rushed to hospitals with burns and one also had a broken limb, said Hari Agustian, an official at the local Search and Rescue Agency in Padang, the West Sumatra provincial capital.

All of the climbers had registered at two command posts or online through West Sumatra’s conservation agency before they climbed, Agustian said.

It was possible others took illegal roads or local residents were active in the area, but it couldn't be confirmed, he said.

Marapi spewed thick columns of ash as high as 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) in Sunday's eruption and hot ash clouds spread several miles (kilometers).

Nearby villages and towns were blanketed by tons of volcanic debris.

Volcanic dust and rain smeared the faces and hair of evacuated climbers, according to video on social media.

Falling ash blanketed several villages and blocked sunlight, and authorities distributed masks and urged residents to wear eyeglasses to protect them from volcanic ash.

About 1,400 people live on Marapi’s slopes in Rubai and Gobah Cumantiang, the nearest villages about 5 to 6 kilometers (3.1 to 3.7 miles) from the peak.

Gunawan said that Sunday’s eruption was not preceded by a significant increase in volcanic earthquakes.

Deep volcanic earthquakes were only recorded three times between November 16 and on Sunday, while the deformation equipment or tiltmeter on the peak showed a horizontal pattern on the radial axis and a slight inflation on the tangential axis.

“This shows that the eruption process is taking place quickly and the center of pressure is very shallow, around the peak,” he said.

Marapi has been active since a January eruption that caused no casualties.

It is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

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