Mt Semeru Rescue Operation Stopped, 48 Death Tolls

TheIndonesia.co - The search and rescue operation (SAR) for the hot cloud fall from Mount Semeru in Lumajang Regency, East Java, was closed on Thursday, December 16, 2021, at 06.00 pm.

"After carrying out a joint evaluation of all the SAR potential involved in the search and the families of the victims who have not been found, we finally agreed to stop or close the SAR operation which has been going on for 13 days," said the Head of the Surabaya SAR Office as the coordinator of the search and rescue mission (SMC) Hari Adi Purnomo in a press release received by ANTARA in Lumajang Regency, Friday, December 17, 2021.

Under the standard operating procedures (SOP), he continued, the standard SAR operation lasted for seven days and had been extended twice, for three days each, so that the total SAR operation had lasted for 13 days.

"The aspect of effectiveness is also our consideration because the chance of a victim living in such conditions is very small and further monitoring will be carried out by the SAR team," he said. He said the SAR team would open SAR operations again if there was valid information on victims or signs of finding victims of the Mount Semeru disaster or if the eruption occurred again and claimed lives again.

On the last day, the SAR team found two body parts, respectively at 08.15 and 08.30 WIB in the search sector of Dusun Curah Kobokan, then the two parts of the human body were evacuated to Haryoto Hospital for identification purposes.

"Not only that. The last day's SAR operations were also stopped at around 10.00 WIB because of an eruption that endangered the combined SAR team," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Operations for the Surabaya SAR Office, I Wayan Suyatna, said that all SARs from Surabaya had been withdrawn to the command headquarters, but there was still some SAR potential in Lumajang Regency.

"For the SAR volunteers who are still at the location of the Mount Semeru hot cloud disaster, it is completely handed over to the Lumajang Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD)," he said.

The SAR operation that had been carried out for 13 days, 48 bodies had been found at the scene in their entirety and seven body parts were sent to RSUD Dr. Haryoto Lumajang for identification by the Disaster Victim Identification Police Team.