BPBD retrieves bodies of two victims of Mt Semeru eruption

Two victims of the Mount Semeru eruption were found at the sand mining area in North Kebondeli, Sumberwuluh Village, Candipuro Sub-district, Lumajang District, on Thursday, December 30, 2021. (ANTARA/HO-BPBD Lumajang/rst)

Lumajang (ANTARA) - Two bodies of victims of the Mount Semeru eruption were found at the sand mining site of PT Duta Semeru owned by Satuhan in Sumberwuluh Village, Lumajang District, East Java, on Thursday.

"Heavy equipment had been deployed to circumvent the river flow and a truck was seen buried in Mount Semeru's lava material," Head of the Emergency Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Division of the Lumajang Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Joko Sambang stated in Lumajang.

According to Sambang, the two bodies were found behind the wheel of a truck bearing license plate number P-8485-KB at the Satuhan sand mining site in North Kebondeli, Sumberwuluh Village, Candipuro Sub-district, Lumajang District.

"The bodies are suspected to be of a sand truck driver named Hambali (58) and his son M. Faisal Akbar (20), who are residents of Purwoasri Village, Gumukmas Sub-district, Jember District. A relative of them confirmed it," he revealed.

The Lumajang BPBD received a report that the two miners went missing during Mount Semeru's eruption on December 4, 2021, as they were still working when the disaster struck.

Sambang explained that the two bodies were retrieved and moved to the Dr Haryoto Lumajang Regional General Hospital for identification by the East Java Police's DVI team.

Commander of the Lumajang 0821 District Military Command Lieutenant Colonel Andi Andriyanto Wibowo also confirmed that the two male bodies were still kept at the Dr Haryoto Lumajang Hospital.

"The two bodies had yet to be identified and have not been released by the Task Force," he noted.

Earlier, the search and rescue operation (SAR) for the Mount Semeru eruption in Lumajang District was officially closed on December 16 at 18:00 local time, but several volunteers still continued to search for victims declared missing.

Renteng Village, Curah Kobokan, and a sand mining location are the main search sites for the joint SAR Team to find the remaining victims during the emergency response period.