12 missing on Mt. Merapi

12 missing on Mt. Merapi

PADANG, West Sumatra: Twelve young mountain climbers have been
missing on Mount Merapi since Saturday, a rescue official said on
Wednesday.

Search and rescue coordinator Rizanto Algamar said six teams
of rescue workers had been deployed to search for the high school
students, four of which are girls.

"We're worried because it has been reported that the climbers
had supplies sufficient only for one day. They should have stayed
only one night up there," Rizanto told The Jakarta Post.

He said the young climbers were supposed to return on Sunday
to Simabur village in Batusangkar at the foot of the volcano.

It is believed that the climbers became lost in the forest on
an alternative track locally called hutan bunian, where there are
deep ravines and various types of trees that can cause a climber
to become disorientated and back track.

Rizanto identified only four of the missing climbers: Yunafsin
and Rahmat Hidayat of Batusangkar, Sutan Indra Gusmansyah of
Padang and Frengky of Payakumbuh.

Yunafsin's father Zurvin Zurbin, who is head of Sungayang
subdistrict in Batusangkar, said his son scaled the mountain
without his school's consent.

Local police and schools had earlier warned students not to
climb the volcano due to the arrival of the rainy season.
(28/edt)