"The officers started recovering the bodies of the victims since the early hours of Monday. However, they halted their efforts due to low visibility and then continued their operations on Monday morning," Agung Lewis, the chief executive of the Magetan Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, noted here.
The team found the victims bodies on the hiking trail located between the third and fourth resting posts in Cemoro Sewu area at an altitude of 1.5-2.5 thousand meters above sea level.
The officers found the victims bodies in a charred condition in several locations. They also evacuated three victims who were in a critical condition and moved them to the Dr Sayidiman Regional Hospital in Magetan District for further treatment.
The SAR team has identified four corpses. Additionally, the medical team at the hospital identified the other dead victims on Monday.
The victims who were already identified by the officers were Rita Septi Nurika, Nanang Setia, and Marwan of Ngawi District, East Java Province, as well as Joko Prayitno of Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the two victims in a critical condition were identified as Eko Nurhadi and Novi Dwi of Ngawi.
Eko is undergoing further treatment at the Soedono Regional Hospital of Madiun City, while Novi was transferred to Moewardi Regional Hospital of Solo, Central Java Province.
The joint SAR team comprises several officers from the Magetan Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, Magetan 0804/Military District Command, and police personnel along with several volunteers of the Anak Gunung Lawu Foundation.
The team inspected several areas in the slopes of Mount Lawu to search for other climbers who were trapped in the fires.
The forest fires have occurred in Mount Lawu since the last two weeks. The previous forest fires were reported in August 2015.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
