Indonesia volcano eruption: Surviving hikers found, hiking group had 9 S'poreans, 2 of them reported dead

UPDATE on May 8 at 9:50pm: The story has been updated to include a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Surviving hikers who were found have since descended from Mount Dukono in Indonesia.

This was after the volcano erupted on May 8, which saw Indonesian authorities racing to rescue 20 hikers.

Earlier reports mentioned that this included nine Singaporeans, two of whom have reportedly died.

The deaths were reported by people who were with the hikers, BBC reported Erlichson Pasaribu, the police chief of North Halmahera, as saying.

Another person, a local resident from Ternate, has also died, Erlichson confirmed to reporters, BBC reported.

The BBC added that there were other injuries, with many victims believed to be tourists.

Evacuated

BBC later reported Erlichson as saying that a total of 15 people had been evacuated from Mount Dukono and were taken to hospital.

He added that two porters from the hiking group remained on the mountain to help rescuers retrieve the bodies of the three people who had died.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta are working closely with the Indonesian authorities to gather the relevant information, and render consular assistance and support to the affected Singaporeans and their families, MFA told Mothership in a statement.

Establish complete account of incident

Those who had accompanied the hikers up the mountain will be questioned by the police, Erlichson said, as reported by BBC.

According to BBC, a statement by Barsanas, Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, said: "The government is continuing to gather information to establish a complete account of the incident."

There had reportedly been an official climbing ban on the volcano, BBC reported.

Indonesia's tourism ministry has, out of safety concerns for visitors and local communities, issued a letter to close the Mount Dukono hiking area, the statement added.

Alert status at third-highest level

This comes after Reuters reported that the active volcano located in North Maluku province erupted ​at 7:41 am local time.

According to Indonesia's volcanology agency, the volcano spewed volcanic ash as high as 10km into the sky.

The alert status at the mountain was maintained at the agency's third-highest level, said agency head Lana Saria in a statement.

The head of the local rescue agency, Iwan Ramdani, told Reuters that they had deployed dozens of personnel, including police, to search for the hikers.

Iwan previously said nine of the ​hikers are ⁠Singaporean and the rest are Indonesians.

Residents were warned to refrain from any activities within 4km of the crater.

The agency also mentioned a risk of volcanic mudflow ⁠in the event of rain.

According to Reuters, there were no reports of flight disruptions caused by the explosion.