Two German climbers killed

Two German climbers killed

SURABAYA: Two German climbers have been killed by a hail of volcanic rock and hot ash from the 3,676-meter Mt. Semeru volcano in East Java, Antara reported yesterday.

Von der Becke Wiltroud, a 58-year-old woman, and Kiemaier Ersnt, a 55-year-old man, belonged to a group of German tourists visiting Semeru, one of Indonesia's 128 active volcanoes.

Among 17 other members of the group, who remained unscathed, was the dead woman's husband.

Local authorities said the two were killed on Tuesday when they moved too close to the volcano's crater despite notices warning visitors to stay away from it.

"When the two approached the crater, a sudden volcanic outburst occurred and the two were hit by stones, rocks and hot ash," said chief of Semeru's volcano monitoring center, Sarmin.

The bodies of the two climbers were evacuated on Wednesday and taken to Dr. Saiful Anwar Hospital in Malang, East Java.

Activity of the volcano has increased over the past three weeks, and volcanologists have alerted local residents living in the danger zone, Sarmin said.

Despite the alert, tourists were still allowed to scale the volcano, but have been advised not to go near the crater. (swe)