Team will remain on standby until the emergency response period set by the Sitaro Island district government ends on May 14, 2024, or can be extended if Mount Ruang's volcanic activity increases at any time.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Head Kusworo stated that the entire process of moving victims of the Mount Ruang eruption in Tagulandang, Sitaro Islands District, North Sulawesi, to evacuation sites had gone smoothly.

"Yes, everything went smoothly, and even though we only relied on sea-crossing ships, the process went well," he remarked when met in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Basarnas deployed one SAR ship, KN Bimasena, along with a team of more than 30 people from the Manado SAR Office to assist with the evacuation process.

During the period from April 30 to May 5, 2024, the Basarnas team transported 203 Tagulandang residents to refugee camps outside the island.

The agency head remarked that in addition to evacuating the affected residents, the Basarnas team also supported the implementation of other emergency response efforts starting from distributing logistics to checking the victims' health.

Kusworo emphasized that the team will remain on standby until the emergency response period set by the Sitaro Island district government ends on May 14, 2024, or can be extended if Mount Ruang's volcanic activity increases at any time.

"There were no fatalities, but there were quite a lot of people who were sick during the evacuation, but all of them could be handled quickly and precisely by the joint team," he remarked.

Basarnas recorded the latest data as of Sunday (May 5) that a total of 5,849 Tagulandang residents were successfully evacuated outside.

This figure is derived from the result of a recapitulation of transportation carried out by KN Bimasena and eight other sea vessels.

According to Kusworo, information gathered from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) stated that the evacuation process was not continuing in line with the decline in volcanic activity.

The Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) reduced the recommended warning distance for Mount Ruang, from seven kilometers to currently five kilometers on Sunday (May 5).

Related news: Mt Ruang eruption: 5,255 evacuated from Tagulandang Island
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Translator: M. Riezko Bima Elko Prasetyo, Cindy Frishanti Octa
Editor: Arie Novarina
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