Indonesian Volcano Kills Three Hikers Defying Ban

North Halmahera Police Chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters that many hikers were "driven by the desire to create online content", a motive he tied to a broader trend of social-media-fuelled risk-taking on restricted terrain. Mount Dukono had erupted more than 200 times since late March, and authorities had banned access within a four-kilometre radius of the crater since 17 April, posting warnings on social media and at trail entrances. Reza Selang, the Indonesian guide who led the group, told the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) he had been hired months earlier by Heng and was unaware of the prohibition; the local villagers he employs as porters, he said, had also failed to mention it. Indonesia sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a tectonic belt that produces frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

In the chaos after the eruption, the crater spat out a roughly two-metre-wide rock that bounced down the mountain; Heng turned back to shield Shahin and was crushed alongside him, Reza recalled. Authorities have since permanently closed all entrances to Mount Dukono, threatened sanctions for further violations, and opened an investigation into "possible negligence by tourism operators or individuals". North Halmahera Police have questioned witnesses associated with Reza's tour company, while Reza himself has surrendered his drone footage as evidence. The surviving Singaporean hikers have returned home, and rescue teams retrieved the final two bodies on Sunday from beneath a thick layer of black volcanic ash near the summit.