Three hikers have died following an explosive eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono volcano on a remote island, authorities said Friday.
About 20 climbers set out Thursday to ascend the nearly 1,355-metre (4,445-foot) volcano on the island of Halmahera, in defiance of safety restrictions, North Halmahera police Chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters at the volcano monitoring station in Mamuya village, The Associated Press reports.
Rescue teams were deployed after receiving an emergency signal from the mountain area, The Associated Press reports. Three men — two Singaporean and one Indonesian national — 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 safely descended,” Pasaribu said several hours after the eruption. Five of those evacuated were reported injured.
Pasaribu added that seven of the hikers who climbed down were Singaporean and the other eight were Indonesian.
The hikers became stranded when Mount Dukono erupted at 7:41 a.m. local time on Friday, causing a large booming sound and sending a thick ash column that rose 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) above the summit, according to the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia.
“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, the head of the local rescue agency, told Reuters.
In this photo released by the Badan Geologi, the geological agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Dukono releases volcanic materials during an eruption in North Halmahera, Indonesia, on May 8, 2026.
Badan Geologi via AP
Mount Dukono saw a decrease in activity in August 2025 but has since recorded 199 eruptions since late March, averaging about 95 eruptions a day, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
Hikers have been banned 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 be questioning the hikers’ tour guides about how the trek still went ahead despite restrictions from authorities.
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Officials believe the hikers were inside a restricted zone at the time of the eruption.
Despite warnings on signs at the site, “many people remain determined to climb, driven by the desire to create online content,” Pasaribu said.
Authorities suggest “possible negligence by tourism operators or individuals,” Barsanas, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told the BBC in a statement.
“The government is continuing to gather information to establish a complete account of the incident,” the statement said.
Global News has reached out to Barsanas for further comment, but has not received a response.
In cellphone footage captured by a witness, hikers are seen rushing 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 really quiet, it means a big eruption is coming,” someone can be 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 head of the Geological Agency in Indonesia, said residents are advised to “wear masks or mouth and nose coverings to prevent respiratory issues from volcanic ash.”
“The direction of the ash distribution leans northward, so residential areas and Tobelo City need to be vigilant for … volcanic ash rain,” she added.
Mount Dukono is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes and has been erupting almost continuously since 1933. Indonesia sits 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 side of the mountain near Indonesia’s second-highest volcano on June 21, 2025.
On June 24, following a four-day search, Indonesian rescue workers were finally able to reach Marins’ body.
“With great sadness, 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 affection and support that we have received.”
Brazil’s government also confirmed that Marins was found dead, following days of rescue efforts that were hampered by challenging weather conditions.
—With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
