Indonesia searches for 8 missing at sea near Anak Krakatau volcano

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers searched for eight people who went missing at sea while heading to a volcanic island to report on an eruption there, officials said Wednesday.

Anak Krakatau initially erupted for about 25 hours over the weekend, and it has since continued to erupt intermittently with explosions ejecting lava, ash and incandescent volcanic material from the crater, Indonesia’s Geology Agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

A speedboat carrying five photojournalists, two crew members and a route guide lost contact after leaving Carita, a coastal town in Banten province, for the volcanic island, said Al Amrad, Banten province’s Search and Rescue Office chief.

He said the last message from the boat was received by relatives of a journalist on board at 6:13 p.m. Monday, saying the group had arrived in the waters around Anak Krakatau. They have not been heard from since.

The five Indonesian journalists work for Indonesia’s state news agency Antara, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Indonesia’s Merdeka and iNews, while the fifth is a freelance photographer.

Their last known location was about 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) from shore. Rescuers, who have been deployed since Tuesday, were “still unable to establish contact with the group or determine their whereabouts,” Amrad said.

Videos and photos released by the agency showed rescuers searching the waters. Distraught relatives gathered at the port office in Carita, hoping for news of missing family members.

Amrad said the search area was widened Wednesday across the Sunda Strait, stretching from Carita and the islands of Rakata and Panjang to the waters around Sebesi and Legundi islands. Five vessels, including two navy ships, were deployed in the search operation, with personnel from the National Search and Rescue Agency, the military and the police involved.

The Geology Agency cautioned that volcanic activity remains elevated and the probability of further eruptions is still high. Potential hazards include volcanic bombs, heavy ashfall and lava flows if continuous eruptions resume.

The eruption caused airport closures Sunday and Monday that disrupted 2,961 flights, including 622 international services, and affected about 341,000 passengers.

The government authorized schools in areas affected by volcanic ash to shift temporarily to online learning to reduce students’ exposure to ash.

Anak Krakatau, whose name means “child of Krakatau,” emerged from the remains of Krakatau, whose massive 1883 eruption largely destroyed the volcano and triggered a period of global cooling.

An eruption of Anak Krakatau in 2018 caused a tsunami that killed at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java. The volcano has been at Indonesia’s second-highest alert level since July, and authorities have advised residents, tourists and fishermen to stay at least 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the active crater.

Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanoes and frequently experiences eruptions due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a series of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most global seismic activity occurs.

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Associated Press journalists Fadlan Syam in Jakarta and Edna Tarigan in Pontianak, contributed to this report.