Guide recounts harrowing escape as Indonesian volcano kills three hikers

Reza Selang was standing partway up Mount Dukono on Friday morning when the mountain decided to kill. He had led twenty hikers—a mix of Singaporeans and Indonesians—up the volcano on Halmahera island in North Maluku, and everything had seemed fine. No smoke. No tremors. At 7:40 a.m., he sent his drone up to check on fourteen of the hikers who had continued to the crater while he stayed below. One minute later, the mountain erupted.

Two eruptions came in quick succession. The first released only smoke. Then, perhaps twenty seconds later, the second came—a violent release of volcanic material that scattered the group down the slope. Using his drone camera, Reza spotted one of the Singaporean hikers, Shahin Muhrez bin Abdul Hamid, lying on the ground near the crater. He climbed back up to help. Timothy Heng, the Singaporean who had organized the expedition, had also turned back to assist. The three men were descending together when the crater ejected a boulder roughly two meters wide. It came bouncing down the mountain toward them. Heng immediately wrapped his body around Shahin. The rock landed on both men and crushed them instantly.

Reza froze. For about a minute, he stood motionless. Then he ran. "There are no words," he told the BBC over the phone four days later, his voice still fractured. "Until now I still feel torn apart, I still can't believe it... right now I am deeply devastated." Three people died in the eruption: Heng, Shahin Muhrez, and Angel Krishela Pradita, an Indonesian hiker whose body was found near the summit the next day. The remaining hikers were evacuated and treated for injuries.

What makes this tragedy more complicated is what Reza claims he did not know. Indonesian authorities had prohibited climbing permits for Mount Dukono since April 17—nearly a month before the expedition. They had banned public access to any area within four kilometers of the crater. Warnings had been posted on social media and at trail entrances. The volcano had erupted more than two hundred times since late March. Yet Reza said he was unaware of all of this when he accepted the job from Heng last year. The local villagers he regularly employed to assist him said nothing about the prohibition either, he added.

When the group began hiking Thursday afternoon, there were no visible signs of danger. The morning of the eruption was calm. When Reza sent his drone to scout the crater before allowing the hikers to approach, he saw no smoke, no activity. He told the group they could go up as long as they came back down quickly. He knew the volcano was classified at level two on Indonesia's four-tier alert system—a designation that means clearly observable increased volcanic activity and a genuine threat of eruption. But he said he continued to climb Dukono almost every month because, in his understanding, other level-two mountains in Indonesia like Mount Rinjani still permitted hiking.

Now authorities are investigating. Police have questioned Reza and at least one other person associated with his tour company. They have hinted at "possible negligence by tourism operators or individuals." The drone footage Reza provided has been handed over as evidence. At this stage, both men are considered witnesses, but investigators are examining "the role of each individual in organising the dangerous climb." Mount Dukono has been permanently closed. Any future violations will face sanctions. Reza awaits the outcome of the investigation, uncertain what legal consequences may come. "Whatever legal consequences happen, I have to accept them, whether I'm ready or not," he said. "I just hope it ends quickly." But the weight of what happened is not something that will end quickly. "I feel very guilty toward the victims and their families," he said. "I feel like I want to go to Singapore and kneel at the victims' parents' feet. I want to apologise."