Sleman, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Two German mountaineers reportedly went missing on Sunday (Aug. 11) while climbing the southern slope of Mount Merapi, passing through Kinahrejo, Sleman district, on the border between Central Java and the Yogyakarta special administrative region.

The spokesperson for the Search and Rescue (SAR) Yogyakarta Agency Teguh Supriadi said the two climbers, a man and a woman, have been missing since Sunday night.

According to him, the couple was initially reported missing when their Honda Vario motorcycle, registration number AB-2287-AF, was discovered abandoned in Ngrangkah village, Cangkringan, Sleman.

Nine SAR officers were then deployed to find and rescue the two climbers, said Supriadi.

He noted that SAR officers were continuing to investigate the climbers' disappearance and planned to conduct further operations upon establishing a command post in Kinahrejo.

"We conducted the search, expecting the worst, even though the climbers have not yet been missing for a full 24 hours," he stated, adding that four teams from the SAR Yogyakarta Agency were currently standing by in separate locations on the mountain.

He confirmed that when the two climbers had broadcast their last report, they had mentioned being in a rock-filled river.

He believed the two climbers were likely to have made it to higher ground than the current location of the first SAR team stationed on the mountain.
(I029/INE)

Editor: Ella Syafputri
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