HALMAHERA ISLAND, Indonesia — Climbers who had been scaling the side of a remote volcano on Indonesia's Halmahera island could be seen seen fleeing for their lives Aug. 17 as the crater expelled huge plumes of ash.

The video of Mount Dukono was shot by a government-operated drone, according to AccuWeather, which reported all the hikers narrowly escaped the debris.

Heart-pounding footage reveals unauthorized climbers risking their lives on the volatile slopes of Mount Dukono in Indonesia despite alert warnings.

Thankfully, no injuries or deaths were reported. pic.twitter.com/vv0NypLA0R

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) August 21, 2024

Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the eruption had been ongoing since Aug. 14, with some plumes rising as high as 800 meters. An alert had been issued and the public was warned to stay 3 kilometers away from the volcano, but the climbers in the video clearly did not heed the warnings.

Priatin Hadi Wijaya, the head of the center, issued a statement Monday saying, "Dukono volcano is still erupting intensely, producing an eruption column with an average height of 100 to 1,000 meters," and there were 2,387 seismic eruptions between Aug. 1 and 19, Tempo.co reports.

Mount Dukono has had "more-or-less continuous explosive eruptions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows" since 1933, according to the Smithsonian Institute. The largest ash plume was reported in November 2022 by the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, rising almost 6 miles above the summit.

Not sure that's the safest place to be hiking.

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