EXCLUSIVE
A tourist has faced intense backlash for climbing to the edge of an active volcano in Indonesia as plumes of smoke billowed from its crater.
The video surfaced on social media over the weekend and comes just four months after another group of tourists barely escaped with their lives when the same volcano erupted right in front of them.
Drone footage showed them descending the volcano’s slope as huge clouds of poisonous gas and ash eclipsed them, and giant flying boulders of molten rock and ash landed just meters away from them.
The latest video shared on social media showed the hiker climbing the edge of Mount Dukono, located in the northern part of Halmahera Island, Indonesia.
The woman climbed to the edge and posed for the camera as she watched a huge cloud of ash rise from the crater, with columns of smoke rising into the air.
The woman is seen giving a thumbs up to the person filming before being surprised by a massive explosion at the base of the crater.
The video was shared on platform X, with the caption “Do you remember the video I posted in August?” It seems that people don’t learn.’
Social media users criticized the daredevil hiker, claiming she and her health were in danger.
Video showed a hiker climbing to the edge to see a huge cloud of cash erupt from the crater of Mount Dukono (pictured).
It comes just months after dozens of hikers descended the mountainside to escape dangerous material from the volcano’s eruption (pictured).
‘That?! That’s wild! I’m an adrenaline-fueled person and I wouldn’t do this. “I prefer to breathe,” one person wrote.
“If the wind had changed even slightly, the direction of the pyroclastic flow would have killed her almost instantly,” a second person said.
Another added: “They actually think they are shocking people by filming themselves engaging in deeply dangerous and stupid activities.”
A fourth posted: “Sure, let’s climb into a smoking cauldron full of toxic gases, what could go wrong?”
It comes just months after dozens of climbers fled down the side of the volcano to escape a dangerous eruption.
The group of climbers managed to reach safety after they were almost hit by a piece of volcanic rock and a dangerous cloud of smoke that stretched more than 600 meters into the air.
Anak Esa recorded the astonishing drone footage on August 17, which showed the climbers fleeing for their lives.
“To my horror, Dukono’s activity was so high that material from the volcano was ejected from the crater,” Esa said.
‘Before climbing to the summit, first look at the direction of the wind, how strong the eruption is, and other considerations. Don’t force yourself to reach the top when the situation doesn’t allow it.
‘Don’t forget, the top is an advantage. Getting home safely is the real goal of climbing.’
Mount Dukono (pictured) is an active volcano that has been continuously erupting since 1933.
Dukono Volcano Observation Post Officer Bambang Sugiono explained that the hikers trespassed and breached the perimeter of the volcano to capture the eruption.
“Our call from PVMBG (Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi – English: Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation) is to always be alert,” he said.
“Follow the warnings of PVMBG, according to which you should not approach the crater of Mount Dukono within a radius of approximately three kilometers.”
Mount Dukono is an active volcano that has been erupting continuously since 1933.