Indonesia: several hundred stranded on Lombok volcano after earthquake
Efforts were underway on Monday to rescue several hundred trekkers stranded on Mount Rinjani on Indonesia's Lombok Island, a day after a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the popular tourist destination, a disaster agency official said.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the disaster mitigation agency spokesman, said on Twitter late on Sunday that out of 820 people on the slopes of the volcano when the quake struck, 246 had been successfully evacuated.
He said 617 of those trekking at the time were foreigners.
Two trails were impassable following the earthquake, he said.
News portal Detik said two helicopters had been deployed to take the trekkers off the mountain and distribute food.
Agung Pramuja, an official of the West Nusa Tenggara Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the death toll from Sunday's earthquake stood at 16.
"The latest information from the team in the field is that today all the families stuck on Mount Rinjani will be evacuated via the Sembalun trail," said Asdiyanto, an official at the North Lombok Disaster Mitigation Agency.
