HOT MESS

Huge Volcano Eruption Forces Rescue Operation for Stranded Climbers

The climbers had set out the morning of the eruption.

Rescuers helped more than 170 climbers to safety after a volcanic eruption trapped them, officials said. The group of 178 people was climbing Mount Semeru in Indonesia when it erupted, throwing hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava, and gas down the mountain. They became stranded at the Ranu Kumbolo camping zone, on the north side of the volcano, and outside the central danger zone. The Associated Press reports that ongoing seismic activity suggested eruptions would continue, necessitating a rescue of the group of “climbers, porters, guides, tourism officials and tourists.” Located in the Lumajang district of East Java, Semeru erupted from midday into the evening on Wednesday. It sent a cloud of hot gas up 1.2 miles into the air. There are concerns that some of the climbers may have been exposed to volcanic ash. Speaking at a news conference, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, ​​Priatin Hadi Wijaya, said, “They are safe and now being helped to return.”