The helicopter had been kept on standby since April 20, 2024, at Klabat Stadium, Manado, to help speed up the emergency response to the Mount Ruang eruption.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) has pressed a helicopter into service to transport people who have fallen sick due to the eruption of Mount Ruang in Sitaro district, North Sulawesi.

Head of the BNPB's Data, Information, and Communication Center on Disaster, Abdul Muhari, said here on Saturday that helicopter evacuations will only be carried out for sick victims due to its limited carrying capacity.

For the overall evacuation, BNPB is using ships and land transportation belonging to the Navy, National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Kodam XIII/Merdeka, and North Sulawesi Regional Police, among other agencies.

As per the latest data from the BNPB, out of the total 12 thousand victims living on Tagulandang Island within a radius of seven kilometers from the peak of the volcano, 5,719 had to be evacuated.

"So, the helicopter was flown to handle people who needed emergency treatment, including evacuating sick victims," he said.

He further said that the BNPB team has also started using the helicopter to directly monitor volcanic activity at Mount Ruang.

Muhari gave the example of air monitoring carried out on Saturday morning around 7:56 a.m. local time from Manado-Tagulandang, without any obstacles or disturbances.

He informed that the helicopter had been kept on standby since April 20, 2024, at Klabat Stadium, Manado, to help speed up the emergency response to the Mount Ruang eruption.

However, since the situation around Mount Ruang did not allow flights within a certain distance, the helicopter was only flown on the Manado-Pulau Tagulandang route.

Muhari expressed the hope that volcanic activity in Mount Ruang would continue to weaken and return to normal soon so that social activities in the surrounding area can return to normal and the regional economy can grow again.

Earlier, based on observations made on Friday evening, the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources reported continued volcanic activity in Mount Ruang.

While making the observations, the Geological Agency team recorded eruptive earthquakes, shallow volcanic earthquakes, deep volcanic earthquakes, and distant tectonic earthquakes, as well as tremors of relatively small magnitude.

Meanwhile, as per visual observations, the volcano was continuing to emit white-gray crater smoke of thick and high intensity, reaching a height of 100–300 meters from the top of the crater.

However, Mount Ruang's activity was relatively weak compared to during the eruptions on April 17 and April 30.

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Translator: M. Riezko Bima Elko Prasetyo, Katriana
Editor: Arie Novarina
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