Three hikers, including two Singaporeans, killed in Mount Dukono eruption in Indonesia

Three hikers have died following an eruption of Mount Dukono on Halmahera island in North Maluku, Indonesia, on 8 May 2026. Two of the victims were Singaporean nationals and one was a resident of Ternate, a city in North Maluku province.

North Halmahera Police Chief Erlichson Pasaribu confirmed the fatalities in a statement to KompasTV. "The latest information is that there are three fatalities, two of them are foreign citizens from Singapore. The other one is a Ternate resident," Pasaribu said.

As of 2pm local time, the bodies of the three victims had not been retrieved from the mountain, as eruptions were still continuing, Pasaribu added.

Twenty hikers on the mountain at time of eruption

Pasaribu said 20 hikers had been on the mountain when it erupted, including nine foreigners. The remaining seven foreign hikers had safely descended from the mountain by early afternoon.

Head of the local rescue agency, Iwan Ramdani, told Reuters that nine of the hikers were Singaporean and the remainder were Indonesian nationals.

Indonesia's national search and rescue agency, Basarnas, said it first received an emergency alert at approximately 8.55am local time on 8 May, after a distress signal was detected from a Garmin device near the volcano.

The signal was subsequently confirmed by the head of Mamuya village in North Halmahera, according to a statement from the Ternate Search and Rescue Office.

Rescue teams deployed from multiple agencies

Iwan said rescuers from the Tobelo search-and-rescue post, located in the North Halmahera town closest to Mount Dukono, were deployed shortly after the initial report was received. Police, military personnel and local residents joined the rescue effort.

Basarnas subsequently reported that information gathered from survivors indicated 15 hikers had been evacuated to safety. The identities and conditions of all hikers were still being verified as operations continued.

The agency added that evacuation efforts were being hampered by difficult terrain, exposure to volcanic ash and the ongoing risk of further eruptive material being ejected from the volcano.

Volcano had been on heightened alert since March

According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the volcano first began erupting at 7.41am on 8 May. Mount Dukono had been placed on Level 2 alert status, indicating heightened volcanic activity, since 29 March 2026.

Pasaribu said hikers had been warned to stay away from the mountain since the elevated alert was issued, but some had proceeded with their ascent despite the known risks.

Mount Dukono is among Indonesia's most active volcanoes and has been erupting almost continuously for decades. Authorities maintain exclusion zones around the crater due to the persistent risk of sudden eruptions.

April eruption footage had previously raised safety concerns

Concerns about safety on Mount Dukono had already resurfaced following an eruption on 6 April 2026, after footage from that event circulated widely online.

The videos showed hikers near the crater scrambling for safety as ash and debris were ejected into the air. Local guides could be heard shouting at hikers to move uphill rather than descend. "Don't go down, come up! Up, up, up," one guide was heard saying, as some trekkers attempted to move downslope.

Reports at the time indicated that guides believed remaining at higher elevation was safer than moving into the path of ash, debris and volcanic gases travelling downhill.

Rescue operations were ongoing as of the time of this report, with authorities continuing to account for all individuals who had been on the mountain at the time of the eruption.