Last night in Europe (22:41 GMT/07:41 local time), a violent eruption occurred at Mount Dukono on the Indonesian island of Halmahera (North Maluku), leaving three dead and thousands displaced, following the eruption of ash in a column of smoke and debris that reached a height of 10 km. The Indonesian authorities have asked the public to stay at least 4 miles (2.5 km) away from the site for any reason and have evacuated around twenty people.
However, three people remain missing. They are two Singaporean nationals and one Indonesian national who were hiking on the slopes of Mount Dukono, a route that had been restricted by local authorities following a previous eruption of the volcano in 2024. Indonesia is situated on the so-called Ring of Fire, a convergence of tectonic plates in the Pacific characterised by high seismic activity and around a hundred highly active volcanoes. Reuters has received reports from the local police chief that there are three fatalities following the eruption, but it has not been possible to verify whether these are the same three missing persons. A video recorded on a mobile phone by a witness and verified by Reuters showed hikers rushing down the mountain, with a huge column of smoke and ash rising into the sky behind them.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency has maintained a level 3 alert (the highest) for the area, and since last March there have been up to 200 small-scale eruptions at Dukono. The plume of smoke is still rising several kilometres into the sky, but the authorities have confirmed that air traffic has not been affected by the eruption.
