I led hikers up an Indonesian volcano – and then it erupted

22 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAstudestra Ajengrastri,JakartaandTessa Wong,Singapore

An Indonesian guide who led a group of hikers up Mount Dukono has described the harrowing moment they were caught up in Friday’s eruption, which killed three people in his group.

Reza Selang narrowly escaped from being crushed by a large rock ejected from the crater, which landed on two other hikers right beside him.

“There are no words. Until now I still feel torn apart, I still can’t believe it… right now I am deeply devastated,” he told the BBC over the phone on Monday.

Indonesian authorities have said two Singaporeans and one Indonesian were killed in the eruption, while the other hikers were safely evacuated from the mountain located on Halmahera island in North Maluku.

The group of 20 hikers, a mix of Singaporeans and Indonesians, had climbed to the summit despite previous warnings against such activity.

The volcano has erupted more than 200 times since late March. Authorities said that since 17 April they had prohibited the granting of climbing permits for Mount Dukono, and that the public was banned from an area 4km (2.5 mi) from the crater.

They also said they had earlier posted warnings on social media and banners at trail entrances.

Reza, however, said he was unaware of all this when he embarked on the trip.

Local villagers whom he regularly employs to assist him in escorting groups up Dukono also did not tell him anything about the prohibition, he added.

Reza runs a tour company in North Maluku. He said he was contacted last year by Timothy Heng, a Singaporean who organised adventure expeditions, to guide a group of hikers up Dukono and other mountains in the region.

When the group began hiking up Dukono last Thursday afternoon, “there were no signs of volcanic activity. There was no eruption or anything. Nothing.”

It was also calm the next morning as they summited the mountain, Reza recalled. When he sent up a drone camera to check the crater, “there was no visible activity, there was no smoke either”.

He told the group they could go up to the crater as long as they made sure to descend shortly afterwards. A total of 14 hikers including Heng went up, while Reza and the rest stayed below.

At 07:40 local time, Reza said, he flew his drone up to monitor the group. One minute later, the mountain erupted.

“Within one minute there were two eruptions. The first eruption only released smoke. Maybe around 15 or 20 seconds later, the second eruption happened and it released all the [volcanic] material,” he said.

Reza said the group scattered and ran down the mountain. Using his drone camera, he spotted a person – Singaporean hiker Shahin Muhrez bin Abdul Hamid – lying on the ground near the crater.

Reza collected his drone and went up to rescue Shahin. Heng, who had initially escaped with the group, ran back as well.

The two men dragged Shahin down the summit while “rocks were falling to our left and right”, recalled Reza.

Then, the crater spit out a rock about 2m (6.5ft) wide that began bouncing down towards them.

“Timothy turned back, and in only a split second he immediately hugged Shahin,” recalled Reza. The rock landed on Heng and Shahin, crushing them instantly.

Reza froze. “I just stayed still. Maybe for about one minute.” Then he snapped out of it, and ran for his life down the mountain.

The guide alerted the authorities to the incident, who immediately launched a search and rescue operation for the two Singaporeans as well as a missing third person, Indonesian hiker Angel Krishela Pradita.

Along with another team member, Reza stayed behind to assist in the search.

Angel’s body was eventually found near the summit on Saturday, while the remains of Heng and Shahin Muhrez were retrieved on Sunday.

In a video provided to the BBC by rescue officials, workers could be seen digging through a thick layer of black volcanic ash beneath a large rock and retrieving bone fragments.

The surviving hikers were sent to a nearby hospital to have their injuries treated, and the remaining Singaporeans have since returned home.

Since Friday’s incident, authorities have permanently closed all entrances to Mount Dukono and have warned that any violations of the climbing prohibition would be subject to sanctions.

Authorities have also said they are investigating the incident, and have hinted at “possible negligence by tourism operators or individuals”.

Reza said he has been questioned by local police and he has handed over his drone footage to them as evidence.

In a statement, North Halmahera Police said the climbing expedition “is strongly suspected of violating regulations” and that they had questioned two individuals – one of whom has the same initials as Reza – associated with Reza’s tour company.

At this point the two men are considered as witnesses to the incident, but “investigators are continuing to examine the role of each individual in organising the dangerous climb” and “parties whose negligence caused the loss of tourists’ lives” would not be tolerated, the police statement said.

“Whatever legal consequences happen, I have to accept them, whether I’m ready or not. I just hope it ends quickly,” said Reza.

While he insisted he was unaware of the climbing prohibition, he said he knew Dukono had been categorised as level two in Indonesia’s four-tier volcano alert system.

A level two volcano is one where there is clearly observable increased volcanic activity and there is the threat of an eruption, and the public is prohibited from certain areas.

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plades collide.

Still, Reza said he continued to climb Dukono “almost every month” because, he claimed, “in Indonesia, level two mountains like Rinjani still allow hiking activities”.

Mount Rinjani, one of Indonesia’s most famous hiking destinations, has a level two status and a prohibition against activities conducted near its crater.

But like Dukono and many other active volcanoes in Indonesia, it continues to attract hikers, and last June a Brazilian woman died after falling into its crater.

As Reza awaits for investigations into Friday’s incident to conclude, he continues to grapple with his regrets and guilt.

“Of course there are many regrets, many what-ifs. What if we hadn’t climbed, what if I hadn’t accepted [the job]… So many what-ifs, so many.

“I feel very guilty toward the victims and their families… I feel like I want to go [to Singapore] and kneel at the victims’ parents’ feet. I want to apologise.”

Three dead after volcano erupts on Indonesian island

VolcanoesIndonesia