Abdul Muhari, Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, said that the joint SAR team had earlier found one female Indonesian victim deceased.
“With the discovery of the other two victims, all victims previously declared missing have been found,” Muhari said as quoted in Jakarta on Sunday.
He added that the joint SAR team has concluded the search operation.
“With the discovery of all victims, the Mount Dukono eruption SAR operation is officially declared closed,” Muhari stated.
The two additional victims found were identified as male foreign nationals, aged 30 and 27.
Muhari said that after the victims were found, the joint SAR team immediately evacuated them and transported all the bodies to the Mount Dukono eruption emergency response post.
The victims were then taken to Tobelo Regional Hospital for identification and further handling.
In addition to the three fatalities, 15 other people were found safe, including seven Singaporean nationals—two males and five females—and eight Indonesian citizens, consisting of six males and two females.
Muhari explained that the third day of the search operation was more focused after the joint team had previously identified the suspected location of the victims buried under volcanic sand using GPS coordinates gathered during the previous day’s operation.
However, the evacuation of the final two bodies faced challenges because the victims were buried under a significant amount of volcanic material.
Furthermore, eruptive activity from Mount Dukono remained unstable, requiring the joint SAR team to carry out the evacuation carefully while prioritizing the safety of personnel in the field.
Related news: Indonesia's Dukono volcano erupts, ash plume 1.4 km high
Translator: Tri Meilani Ameliya, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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