LOMBOK, Indonesia: More than 500 hikers and their guides remain stranded by landslides on an active volcano on Lombok, a day after a powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian holiday island, a national park official said Monday.
Helicopters and rescue teams on foot have been deployed to scour the slopes of Mount Rinjani, which is crisscrossed with hiking routes popular with tourists.
“There are still 560 people trapped. Five hundred are in Segara Anakan area, and 60 are in Batu Ceper,” said the head of Rinjani national park Sudiyono, who goes by one name.
Sixteen people were killed and hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the shallow 6.4-magnitude quake, which sent people running from their homes early in the morning of Sunday.
The quake also dislodged tons of rock and mud on Mt. Rinjani, leaving people with no easy way down.
Rising some 3,726 meters (12,224 feet) above sea level, the peak is the second-tallest volcano in Indonesia and a favorite among sightseers keen to take in its expansive views.
Hiking trails on the mountain were closed following the quake due to fear of further landslides.
The epicenter of the earthquake was 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok’s main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island.
The initial tremor was followed by two strong secondary quakes and more than 100 aftershocks.
More than 500 hikers stranded on mountain after Indonesia quake
More than 500 hikers stranded on mountain after Indonesia quake
Germany plays down threat of US invading Greenland after talks
WASHINGTON: Germany’s top diplomat on Monday played down the risk of a US attack on Greenland, after President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the island from NATO ally Denmark.
Asked after meeting Secretary of State Marco Rubio about a unilateral military move by Trump, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said: “I have no indication that this is being seriously considered.”
“Rather, I believe there is a common interest in addressing the security issues that arise in the Arctic region, and that we should and will do so,” he told reporters.
“NATO is only now in the process of developing more concrete plans on this, and these will then be discussed jointly with our US partners.”
Wadephul’s visit comes ahead of talks this week in Washington between Rubio and the top diplomats of Denmark and Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Trump in recent days has vowed that the United States will take Greenland “one way or the other” and said he can do it “the nice way or the more difficult way.”
Greenland’s government on Monday repeated that it would not accept a US takeover under “any circumstance.”
Greenland and NATO also said Monday that they were working on bolstering defense of the Arctic territory, a key concern cited by Trump.
Trump has repeatedly pointed to growing Arctic activity by Russia and China as a reason why the United States needs to take over Greenland.
But he has also spoken more broadly of his desire to expand the land mass controlled by the United States.
