Joint SAR team rescues lost foreign and Indonesian hikers on Mount Batukaru

Joint SAR team rescues lost foreign and Indonesian hikers on Mount Batukaru in Tabanan.

‘Three hikers lost on Mount Batukaru were found by the joint SAR team yesterday at around 11:00 AM WITA,’ said Kadek Donny Indrawan, Coordinator of the Buleleng Search and Rescue Post.

Donny, in a statement from Basarnas Bali in Denpasar on Friday, identified the three hikers as Mario Luca (17), an Indonesian male from Karangasem, Taisiya Chernosvitova (18), a Russian male foreign national, and Nazar Krasnoruski (18), also a Russian male foreign national.

‘All three are graduates of a high school at an international school in Denpasar,’ he added.

They began descending around 3:00 PM WITA but became disoriented and lost by 8:00 PM WITA.

Information about the teenagers being lost was only known that evening when they contacted their families.

‘One of the hikers contacted their family yesterday to say they were lost, and the family reported the incident to Basarnas,’ Donny said.

‘At 9:00 AM WITA, the joint SAR team began ascending from Karyasari Village Post to search for the victims, and they were found at 11:00 AM WITA at coordinates 8°20’39.50”S - 115° 5’2.70”E,’ he said.

The joint SAR team located the two foreign nationals and one Indonesian at an altitude of 1,899 metres above sea level.

Fortunately, all three were found in good health and stable condition, allowing them to be evacuated down to the post.

‘By 2:05 PM WITA, the three hikers were successfully evacuated to Karyasari Village Post and handed over to their families,’ Donny said.

The joint SAR operation involved Basarnas Bali, Tabanan Police, Pupuan Police Station, Brimob Battalion B Pelopor Mengwi, Pupuan Military Command, Pupuan District Head, Karyasari Village Military Liaison Officer, local guides, and community members.