SABACIREBON – The joint SAR team finally found two foreign nationals (WNA) who were previously reported missing while climbing Mount Dukono in North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku. Both of them were found dead after being suspected of being victims of the volcanic eruption.
Head of Ternate SAR Office, Iwan Ramdanisaid the two victims were found on Sunday at around 13.00 WIT in the area around the starting point of the emergency signal received by the Basarnas Command Center.
“The discovery location is around 13 meters north of the first point where the emergency signal was detected,” he said in Ternate.
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According to Iwan, the two victims were found in the same location in a tragic condition after being hit by large boulders due to the eruption activity of Mount Dukono.
“The two victims were found close to each other and crushed by large stone material,” he said.
The victims are known as Heng and Sha, both of whom are Singaporean citizens. Meanwhile, another victim who was previously reported to have been affected by the eruption was an Indonesian citizen named Angel.
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After the search process, the joint SAR team immediately carried out an evacuation from the lip area of Mount Dukono to the main post in Mamuya Village. The evacuation was quite difficult due to the rainy weather and dangerous terrain conditions due to ongoing volcanic activity.
Iwan explained that the body bag arrived at the Mamuya Village main post at 17.43 WIT before being taken to the Tobelo Regional Hospital for an autopsy and further identification.
He also expressed his appreciation to all elements involved in the search and rescue operation. According to him, the hard work of personnel in the field should be appreciated because they continued to carry out their duties even though they were facing extreme weather and the risk of eruption.
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With the discovery of all the victims, the SAR operation was officially declared complete and all personnel were returned to their respective agencies.
Basarnas also expressed its thanks to the North Halmahera Regency Government, the ranks of the TNI-Polri, BPBD, and volunteers who have helped with the search process until the evacuation of victims took place safely and smoothly. ***
