The management of Mount Rinjani National Park on Lombok island has said that 1,090 hikers have been evacuated from Mt. Rinjani in West Nusa Tenggara after a deadly earthquake triggered landslides on the mountain on Sunday morning.
“The latest evacuation was made an hour ago when we found seven local hikers at the Susuk Cave on the mountain. The rescue team is currently leading them to [an evacuation post in] Sembalun village,” head of TNGR, Sudiono, told The Jakarta Post over the phone this afternoon.
Sudiono said the rescue operation team was still combing the mountain to find survivors.
“We will not stop the rescue operation until it’s clear,” he said.
The Thai Embassy in Jakarta has confirmed that all the Thai tourists trapped on the mountain has been brought out to safety and many of them are on their way back to Thailand while the rest are being taken of in Lombok while waiting for the next flights home.
The Jakarta Post reported that the 6.4 magnitude earthquake quake that hit Lombok killed at least 16 people, including one hiker. The quake also injured 355 people, destroyed at least 1,454 houses and displaced 5,141 people.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, 637 foreign nationals and 192 Indonesians began climbing Mt. Rinjani, the country’s second-tallest volcano, on Friday and Saturday.
It is believed the number of people on the mountain was higher, as those who had climbed to the summit on earlier days had not yet descended.
Photo : Royal Thai Embassy, Jakarta
