Overview
- Rescue teams on Halmahera recovered the last two victims during a brief lull in activity, and officials said search operations are now complete.
- A joint team found the first victim, a woman, at 14:30 with her backpack and took her to a local hospital for identification.
- Work paused at times because rain, falling ash, and fresh blasts cut visibility and made the crater area too dangerous to reach.
- Officials said the two Singaporean hikers were about 20 to 30 meters from the crater rim and buried under thick volcanic debris.
- The hikers were part of a guided group of 20, police said they ignored posted and online warnings, and the volcanology center reports repeated eruptions with ash plumes around 3 kilometers high and a 4-kilometer exclusion zone in place.