East Java police's 14 excavators to evacuate Mt. Semeru victims

Lumajang (ANTARA) - The East Java Provincial Police has readied 14 excavators to evacuate victims of the Mount Semeru eruption in Lumajang District, East Java.

"These excavators will be operated by the Lumajang Police in coordination with the Mount Semeru Disaster Mitigation Agency," Directorate of General Criminal Investigation of the East Java Police Senior Commissioner Farman stated on Wednesday.

Of the 14 excavators to be operated, four will be deployed in Curah Kobokan Village in Pronojiwo Sub-district and 10 in Jarit Village, Pasirian Sub-district.

"This tool will operate in villages that require heavy equipment to assist in searching and evacuating victims that have not been found," Farman explained.

In addition, the East Java Police provided eight dump trucks, one tanker truck containing diesel fuel, and two trucks carrying excavators to assist with the evacuation of victims.

"We will continue to coordinate with officers at the disaster site to assist in accelerating the rescue," he stated.

Meanwhile, the joint Search and Rescue team temporarily halted search and evacuation activities in Kobokan Curah Village since the hot clouds appeared to flow from the mountain.

"The evacuation process started in the morning, but at 9:15 local time, it was stopped because hot clouds appeared," the search team commander from Surabaya SAR Dewa noted.

The joint SAR team's officers managed to find and evacuate the two bodies of victims of the Mount Semeru eruption before the search operation was stopped.

On the fifth day of the search, the SAR team searched four locations to look for victims in Curah Kobokan Village, the sand mining area, Kebondeli Village, and Renteng Village in Candipuro Sub-district.

Earlier, Mount Semeru in Lumajang District, East Java Province, erupted on December 4. As many as 34 people died, 16 were reported missing, 26 suffered from severe injury, and 82 had mild injuries.