An eruption at the Marapi volcano in the western part of the Indonesian archipelago has killed at least eleven people, search and rescue services said today, after overnight efforts that allowed three people to be found alive.

“There were 26 people who had not been evacuated, we found 14, three alive and the other eleven dead,” Abdul Malik, head of search and rescue in Padang, explained the day after the eruption.

The three survivors were found a short distance from the crater, are weak and at least two have suffered “burns”, the official said.

Rescue crews followed one another on the arduous route to bring the bodies of the victims down the mountain on foot.

The eruption of the Marapi volcano, in Sumatra, began yesterday at 15:54 (local time; at 09:54 Greek time).

Twelve missing

A dozen other people are missing, while 49 have descended the mountain and some have been taken to hospital, according to Mr Malik.

Video taken by rescue crews shows an ambulance, sirens wailing, as it evacuates a burn victim.

In other images, a member of the rescue team can be seen, with a flashlight on his forehead, helping a walker moaning in pain to carry her to safety.

The volcanic eruption, which remains ongoing, prevents the evacuation of people at risk by helicopter, Mr. Malik said.

“Visually, even in the morning, smoke is still coming out of the crater. Visually, everything still looks gray,” he added.

Volcanic ash spewing from Mount Marapi’s crater was seen as high as 3,000 meters above the summit, Hendra Gunawan, head of Indonesia’s volcanology and geological hazards center, said yesterday.

Rudy Rinaldi, director of the disaster management agency in western Sumatra, told AFP that some of the rescued walkers needed medical treatment.

Burns

“Some suffered burns” and “were taken to a hospital,” he explained.

The people who were injured were “those who had approached the crater,” he added.

According to a list of people found by the search and rescue service (BASARNAS) and consulted by AFP, at least eight suffered burns. One of the rescued, in addition to the burns, suffered a fracture, while another suffered a head injury.

Ade Setiawan, a local disaster management official, said in a press release issued yesterday that residents of villages in the area were given masks and advised to stay indoors.

Marapi, at an altitude of 2,891 meters – its name means “the mountain of fire” – is the most active volcano in Sumatra. Authorities imposed a three-kilometer exclusion zone around its crater.

“The volcanic ash rain has now reached the town of Bukittinggi,” Ahmad Rifandi, an official at the Mount Marapi monitoring station, said yesterday.

Indonesia is located on the so-called ring of fire of the Pacific Ocean, where tectonic plates intersect and volcanic and seismic activity is extremely intense. The country has almost 130 active volcanoes.