SAR Team Evacuates Erry Yunanto Body from Mount Merapi Crater

Boyolali, C Java, May 19 (ANTARA Lampung) - A search and rescue (SAR) team on Tuesday evacuated the body of Erry Yunanto from Mount Merapi crater.

"The SAR team started the evacuation process at 6:00 A.M. and managed to lift the body of the victim at 11:40 A.M. local time," said Basuki, one of the SAR team members.

For their descent to the crater, the rescue team members were equipped with fire-resistant suits and breathing apparatus to anticipate poisonous gas and high temperatures from the volcano.

The team estimated that the evacuation of the victim's body from the peak to a lower ground will take five to six hours.

Erry Yunanto, a student of Atma Jaya University, Yogyakarta, and a resident of Kampung Mbiru in Sleman district, Yogyakarta, reportedly fell into the crater of Mount Merapi at 11:00 A.M on Saturday (May 16).

Chief of Selo Sector Police Office Adjunct Commissioner Yadiyo said Erry had gone on a hike to Mount Merapi with five of his friends.

They began the journey from the Dukuh Plalangan route in Lencoh Selo village of Boyolali at around 10:30 P.M. on Friday.

The hikers arrived at Post II in two separate smaller groups.

While the first three groups built tents, the other three continued their journey to Pasar Bubrah.

Erry with two of his companions arrived at Pasar Bubrah at around 3:30 A.M. on Saturday.

After resting for a while at Pasar Bubrah, Erry and one of his friends started hiking, while the third friend stayed back in the tent.

The two arrived at Garuda Peak by 11 A.M. and managed to take some photographs.

However, while descending, Erry slipped and fell to the southern part of the crater.

His friend climbed down to the Post II, asking other climbers to help and reported the incident to New Selo base camp.

"The SAR team could not conduct any search until Sunday morning as the location was perilous and it was not possible to carry out any operation at night," Yadiyo added.

Head of the Geology Office of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resource Surono noted that although the status of the volcano is normal, climbers are allowed only till the Pasar Bubrah post and are not permitted to climb to the summit.