Disappearance of two tourists on closed Indonesian volcano Semeru
In Lumajang district on the east coast of Indonesia's Java island, two hikers from the cities of Surabaya and Sidoarjo went missing while climbing Mount Semeru. The hikers had taken illegal trails to the mountain, despite the area remaining closed to visitors.
District head Inda Amperawati urged the tourist community to strictly adhere to the restrictions and not to go on routes without official opening. The slopes of the mountain have become extremely dangerous due to heavy rains, the risk of hydrometeorological disasters and the unstable behavior of the volcano itself, which has recently produced hot landslides and mudflows - lahars.
Context
The climbing routes to Semeru were completely closed by the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park management in late August due to large-scale forest fires. The danger of climbing bypassing official points is associated not only with the consequences of the fire, but also with sudden emissions of hot ash and debris.