All Victims Have Been Evacuated, Total Climbers Died As A Result Of The Marapi Eruption 23 People

West Sumatra Deputy Police Chief Brigadier General Edi Mardiyanto /ANTARA / Muhammad Zulfikar

AGAM - A joint team from various agencies and volunteers succeeded in evacuating the 75th victim of the eruption of Mount Marapi in West Sumatra in a state of death on the fourth day of the search.

"Yes, this is our target. From the report the number is complete, 75," said West Sumatra Deputy Police Chief Brigadier General Edi Mardiyanto in Agam Regency as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, December 6.

The last victim is known to be female, but the full identity cannot be ascertained because he still needs data matching or identification by the West Sumatra Police Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Team.

The identification of all victims of the Marapi eruption was centered at the Achmad Mochtar Hospital (RSAM) Bukittinggi City. With these findings, 23 of the 75 climbers were declared dead after the eruption of Mount Marapi on Sunday (3/12).

"The victim was found in the vicinity of the crater at 15.30 WIB," he said.

Edi Mardiyanto said the tragedy of the eruption of Mount Marapi should be an important lesson for all parties, especially in prioritizing safety.

Moreover, he said, the volcanic activity of the mountain was known to have a level II (alert) status since 2011.

On that occasion, the one-star police general admitted that the search for victims on the first day had not met the target because at that time the joint team had only evacuated 52 victims and three people died.

Head of the Padang SAR Office Abdul Malik said the female victim had been found and taken to the Bukittinggi Hospital for the data matching process.

The 75 people data refers to the list of online orders compiled by the West Sumatra Province Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).