Eleven more bodies have been discovered, bringing the death toll to 22 following the eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Marapi.
Two bodies were found on Monday, with nine more discovered on Tuesday, according to the National Search and Rescue Agency. One hiker remains missing and is presumed dead, said Edi Mardianto, the deputy police chief in West Sumatra province. The hiker went missing close to the eruption site.
Rescuers were able to save around 75 climbers and confirmed 11 dead following Sunday's initial eruption. Abdul Malik, chief of the Padang Search and Rescue Agency, said rescue missions were temporarily halted after new eruptions on Monday and Tuesday spewed ash, impacting visibility.
Poor weather conditions also challenged rescuers as they worked to bring bodies down the mountain and continued to search for the missing hiker, Malik said.
Before the eruption, Mount Marapi was at an alert level three out of four, which indicates above-normal volcanic activity. Under those conditions, hikers are only permitted to climb below the “danger zone,” or three kilometers from the peak.
According to local officials, hikers and villagers could have been above the permitted zone, making it hard to get accurate information on the number of people stranded.
Mount Marapi, a volcano known for its difficult to predict eruptions, is one of Indonesia's 130 active volcanoes. It has been active since a January eruption that caused no casualties.
Volcanic activity is common in Indonesia, which is located along the “Ring of Fire,” a string of volcanoes that encircle the Pacific Basin where tectonic plates collide.
Some information in this report was taken from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
