6 Riau Climbers Trapped In West Sumatra's Mount Marapi Eruption, Pekanbaru Basarnas Sends Personnel To Help Evacuate

As many as 10 Pekanbaru Basarnas personnel Monday (4/12) to assist the evacuation process for Mount Marapi climbers. ANTARA/HO-Humas Basarnas Pekanbaru.

RIAU - Pekanbaru Basarnas and the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) sent a number of personnel to assist the evacuation process for climbers trapped in the eruption of Mount Marapi in West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

"We have dispatched 10 Pekanbaru Basarnas personnel this Monday to assist the evacuation process for Mount Marapi climbers," said Head of Pekanbaru Basarnas Budi Cahyadi in his statement, Monday, December 4, confiscated by Antara.

If they arrive at the location, he continued, the team will immediately coordinate with related elements in the field in the hope that the evacuation process will run smoothly and the victims can be found immediately.

Riau BPBD Chief Executive M Edy Afrizal added that his party also sent four personnel to assist the evacuation process.

"We sent four personnel because until now there are still climbers from Riau who have not gone down," he said.

The Head of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the Riau BPBD, Rozita, said that of the 75 climbers of Mount Marapi, 29 of them came from Riau. Some of them have gone down, and the remaining 6 climbers have not come down.

"Earlier, we have coordinated with the West Sumatra BPBD, there are still six climbers from Riau who have not gone down," said Rozita.

Mount Merapi monitoring officer Ahmad Rifandi said the eruption occurred on Sunday, December 3 at 14:54 WIB and spewed volcanic ash about 3,000 meters

"The height of the eruption column was observed to be about 3,000 meters above the peak or about 5,891 meters above sea level. The ash column was observed to be gray with thick intensity to the east," he said.

He appealed to the people around Mount Marapi, visitors, or tourists, not to climb Mount Marapi at a radius of three kilometers from the crater/peak.

Mount Marapi is one of the active mountains in West Sumatra. This mountain is located in the Agam Regency and Tanah Datar Regency, West Sumatra, with an altitude of 2,891 meters above sea level.