Mount Dukono, located on Halmahera island in eastern Indonesia, erupted on Friday morning, sending volcanic ash as high as 10 kilometers into the atmosphere, according to Indonesia’s volcanology authorities.

Local police said the victims included two Singaporean nationals and one Indonesian hiker who were inside a restricted exclusion zone near the crater when the eruption occurred. Indonesia’s search and rescue agency has continued to classify the three as missing while recovery efforts remain underway.Seventeen other climbers, including additional Singaporean nationals, were evacuated safely from the mountain on Friday.

The search operation was temporarily suspended late Friday because of continued eruptions and unstable conditions around the crater area. Authorities resumed the mission on Saturday with more than 100 personnel, including police officers, soldiers and drone operators.“We are racing in this search.

When the situation and condition is safe, we will approach the crater, and when an eruption occurs, we must secure all search personnel,” rescue official Iwan Ramdani said in a statement recorded near the Dukono monitoring station in Mamuya village.

Indonesia’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the volcano erupted several more times on Saturday, including one blast that produced an ash column reaching around three kilometers above the summit.

National disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said preliminary information indicated the bodies of the two Singaporean hikers were located approximately 20 to 30 meters from the crater rim. The location of the Indonesian hiker remained unknown.

Singapore’s foreign ministry said it was coordinating with its embassy in Jakarta to assist affected citizens and their families, according to local media reports.Authorities said the hikers had entered an area subject to a four-kilometer exclusion zone imposed around the crater since December 2024.

The restriction remains in place because of persistent volcanic activity at Mount Dukono, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes.The volcano has remained at level two on Indonesia’s four-tier alert system since 2008. Officials said warning signs and public advisories had instructed visitors to avoid the restricted zone.

Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a region of intense seismic and volcanic activity caused by shifting tectonic plates. The archipelago has nearly 130 active volcanoes and experiences frequent eruptions and earthquakes.