JAKARTA, Indonesia: A rescue helicopter crashed while heading to help evacuate residents near an erupting volcano on Indonesia’s main island, killing all eight people on board, officials said Monday.
The helicopter reportedly hit a cliff about three minutes from arriving at Dieng Plateau, a popular tourist area where a volcanic crater erupted Sunday, injuring at least 10 people.
The Indonesian-made Dauphin AS365 helicopter crashed later Sunday at Butak Mountain in Candiroto subdistrict in Central Java province’s Temanggung district.
Brig. Gen. Ivan Tito, director of operation and training at the National Search and Rescue Agency, said the bodies of all the victims were taken to Police’s Bhayangkara Hospital in Central Java’s capital of Semarang.
“The helicopter was airworthy,” Tito told TVOne station in a live interview Monday from Temanggung, the closest town to the crash site. “There were four crewmen, all navy officers and four rescuers on board the helicopter.”
The Sileri Crater at Dieng Plateau spewed cold lava, mud and ash as high as 50 meters (164 feet) into the sky when it erupted Sunday morning, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
The sudden eruption occurred while about 17 visitors were around the crater. Ten people were injured and were treated at a hospital.
Soldiers and police officers were dispatched to the scene, while local residents and visitors were asked to evacuate the area in case of further eruptions, Nugroho said.
Sileri is the most active and dangerous among some 10 craters at Dieng Plateau. Its most recent eruption was in 2009, when it unleashed volcanic materials up to 200 meters (656 feet) high and triggered the creation of three new craters.
Dieng Plateau, located in the Central Java district of Banjarnegara, is a popular tourist attraction because of its cool climate and ninth-century Hindu temples. It sits about 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) above sea level.
Some 142 people were reportedly asphyxiated in 1979 when the volcano spewed gases.
8 dead as Indonesian aid helicopter crashes near erupting volcano
8 dead as Indonesian aid helicopter crashes near erupting volcano
Egypt’s El-Sisi accepts invite to join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’
- Kosovo has been a close ally with the US which supported its independence from Serbia in 2008
- Italy will not take part in Board of Peace initiative, daily Corriere della Sera reports
CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has accepted an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join his “Board of Peace.”
Egypt “announces its acceptance of the invitation and its commitment to fulfilling the relevant legal and constitutional procedures,” the statement said, praising Trump for his Middle East policies.
“Egypt expresses its support for the Board of Peace’s mission for the second phase of the comprehensive plan to end the conflict in Gaza,” it added.
Kosovo said on Wednesday it had accepted an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join his “Board of Peace.”
“I am deeply honored by the President’s personal invitation to represent the Republic of Kosovo as a founding member of the Board of Peace, standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the pursuit of a safer world,” Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani wrote on X.
“America helped bring peace to Kosovo. Today, Kosovo stands firmly as America’s ally, ready to help carry that peace forward,” Osmani said.
Kosovo, a Balkan country of 1.6 million people, has been a close ally with the United States which supported its independence from Serbia in 2008.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Wednesday that he has agreed to join the Board of Peace in a departure from an earlier stance when his office criticized the makeup of the board’s committee tasked with overseeing Gaza.
Italy won’t take part in US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” initiative, daily Corriere della Sera reported on Wednesday, citing concern that joining such a group led by a single country’s leader would violate Italy’s constitution.
Trump’s plan has so far drawn cautious reactions from Western allies, as diplomats say it could undermine the work of the United Nations.
Norway and Sweden, meanwhile, said they would not be joining the board at this stage, following in the footsteps of France, which has expressed concern the board could seek to replace the United Nations as the mediator in global conflicts.
