Three hikers died after an explosive eruption from Indonesia’s Mount Dukono volcano on a remote island, authorities said Friday.
About 20 climbers set out Thursday to ascend the nearly 1,355-meter (4,445-foot) volcano on Halmahera Island, defying security restrictions, Halmahera North police chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters at the volcano monitoring station in the village of Mamuya, The Associated Press reports.
Rescue teams were deployed after receiving an emergency signal from the mountainous area, The Associated Press reports. Three men, two Singaporeans and one Indonesian, died at the scene, Pasaribu said.
Their bodies have not yet been recovered due to continued eruptions and dangerous conditions.
“To date, 15 climbers have descended safely,” Pasaribu said several hours after the eruption. Five of the evacuees were injured.
Pasaribu added that seven of the hikers who descended were Singaporeans and the other eight were Indonesians.
The hikers were stranded when Mount Dukono erupted at 7:41 a.m. local time on Friday, causing a loud roar and sending a thick plume of ash rising 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) above the summit, according to the Indonesian Volcanological Service.
“The search has been temporarily closed today and will resume tomorrow, not because we don’t want to search at night, but because Mount Dukono will continue to erupt,” Iwan Ramdani, head of the local rescue agency, told Reuters.
In this photograph released by Badan Geologi, the geological agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Dukono releases volcanic materials during an eruption in northern Halmahera, Indonesia, on May 8, 2026.
Badan Geology via AP
Mount Dukono experienced a decline in activity in August 2025, but since the end of March it has recorded 199 eruptions, averaging around 95 eruptions per day. according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
Hikers have been prohibited from climbing the volcano since April 17 after authorities sent out an alert due to the active volcano, Pasaribu said. He added that he would question the hikers’ tour guides about how the trek was carried out despite authorities’ restrictions.
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Authorities believe the hikers were within a restricted zone at the time of the eruption.
Despite warnings on the site’s signs, “many people remain determined to scale, driven by the desire to create online content,” Pasaribu said.
Authorities suggest “possible negligence on the part of tour operators or individuals,” Barsanas, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, he told the BBC in a statement.
“The government continues to gather information to establish a complete account of the incident,” the statement said.
Global News contacted Barsanas for further comment but did not receive a response.
In Images taken with a cell phone by a witnessHikers are seen running down the mountain as a huge plume of smoke and ash rises into the sky.
“I hope they’re still alive. Dukono is always dangerous. When it’s very quiet, it means a big eruption is coming,” someone is heard saying in the video.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation is urging residents living near Mount Dukono to remain vigilant.
Lana Saria, acting director of the Indonesian Geological Agency, said residents are advised to “wear masks or cover their mouth and nose to avoid respiratory problems due to volcanic ash.”
“The direction of ash distribution is leaning towards the north, so residential areas and the city of Tobelo should be alert to… volcanic ash fall,” he added.
Mount Dukono is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia and has been erupting almost continuously since 1933. Indonesia lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity, and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.
Last June, a Brazilian tourist fell hundreds of feet near an active volcano in Indonesia. Juliana Marins, 26, was climbing Mount Rinjani with a group led by a tour guide when she slipped and fell off a cliff on the mountainside near Indonesia’s second-highest volcano on June 21, 2025.
On June 24, after a four-day search, Indonesian rescuers were finally able to reach Marins’ body.
“It is with great sadness that we inform you that she did not survive,” Marins’ family said. in a statement on social media. “We remain very grateful for all the prayers, messages of love and support we have received.”
Brazil’s government also confirmed that Marins was found dead, after days of rescue efforts that were hampered by difficult weather conditions.
—With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
