BNPB Targets Victims Of Mount Ruang Eruption In North Sulawesi To Be Evacuated In A Total Of 3 Days

Head of BNPB Suharyanto together with Governor of North Sulawesi Olly Donkoambey chaired a coordination meeting to deal with the impact of the Mount Ruang eruption, Thursday (2/4/2024) (ANTARA/M Riezko Bima Elko P)

SULUT - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) targets all victims affected by the eruption of Mount Ruang in Sitaro Islands Regency, North Sulawesi (Sulut) to be evacuated to a safe place in the next three days.

"The evacuation process will be carried out in the next three days by utilizing all the defense equipment of existing sea crossing vessels because this condition is the only way that can be maximized," said Head of BNPB Suharyanto in a cross-sectoral coordination meeting with the Provincial Government (Pemprov) of North Sulawesi, Thursday, May 2, confiscated by Antara.

He explained that a total of 12 thousand residents affected by the eruption of Mount Ruang would be evacuated to safer places outside the island. The residents are residents of Tagulandang Island, Sitaro Islands, which is less than 10 kilometers from the summit of the volcano.

Meanwhile, based on the recapitulation data of the BNPB team, it is known that from the total number recorded as of Wednesday, May 1 evening, 3,364 residents have been successfully evacuated.

So there are at least 5,719 people left behind on Tagulandang Island who must be immediately evacuated to the evacuation posts, including those located on Siau Island, Manado, and North Minahasa.

Suharyanto emphasized that currently an increase in the number of ships has been carried out to at least 11 units to transport the remaining victims who are left behind.

Dozens of ships prepared to transport the victims belonged to Basarnas, Customs, Navy, and private ferries, respectively.

The crossing routes to the refugee camps are Tagulandang Manado, Tagulandang Bitung, Tagulandang Pahe Siau, Talugandang-Munte with passenger occupancy of 600 - 100 people on a single transport.

"All of this is an effort so that after all the residents must be shifted out for safety, because the condition of Mount Ruangan which has not been properly stabilized after the second phase of the eruption a few days ago," he said.