SAR Team Finds 2 Victims Killed by Cold Lava from Merapi

MAGELANG - A joint SAR team has found two more bodies among the rocks in the second day of search operations for victims of the cold lava flood in the Senowo River, the slopes of Mount Merapi, Dukun, Magelang Regency, Central Java.

Coordinator of the Borobudur SAR Alert Unit, Arif Yulianto, said that until the second victim, the other victims were still in the search process.

Two victims who have been found on behalf of Heru Setyawan (25) residents of Krinjing and Arif Fuad Hasan (26) residents of Ngargosoko Srumbung, Magelang Regency.

He said on the second day of the operation, it was divided into three Search and Rescue Units (SRU) to speed up the evacuation process with a search radius of up to four kilometers from the initial location.

The first SRU carried out a search by attaching to the K9 unit belonging to the Magelang Police. The second SRU combed from the initial location where the vehicle was stuck to Dam 1. Meanwhile, the third SRU carried out a search from Dam 1 to Dam 2 and ended in the Bendo area.

"From the information we received, there were four victims who were reported missing. Thank God, today two victims have been found. The search for the other two victims is still ongoing," said Arif Yulianto as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 4.

He said the two bodies of the victims were found among large rocks at a distance of about 1 kilometer from the starting point of the incident.

"The search operation involves elements of Basarnas, TNI, Polri, as well as volunteers from various SAR potential communities in the Magelang area and its surroundings," said Arif.

In addition to human casualties, cold lava floods also caused material losses. Based on temporary data collection, three trucks were reported to have been swept away by the river, while 12 other trucks were trapped in the lava flow area.

Two Kobelco heavy equipment were also reported to still be buried in sand and stone materials and until now have not been evacuated.

It is known that the cold lava flood occurred on Tuesday (3/3) at around 15.30 WIB after heavy rain hit the peak area of Mount Merapi.

In the first day's operation, one victim was found dead at the scene and four others were searched, while six others were injured. Two of them are still undergoing treatment at Muntilan Hospital.