Survivor of Indonesia’s Marapi eruption vows she will never hike again: ‘I don’t want to’
- First-time hike Tita Cahyani is being treated for extensive burns after escaping spewing rock and ash from the erupting Marapi volcano this weekend
- Marapi’s eruption on Sunday was its third so far this year, and the deadliest since 1979
“I’m scared and I don’t want to do it again,” said Cahyani, who is being treated for extensive burns at a hospital in Padang Panjang, a city in Western Sumatra province around 40km (25 miles) from the volcano.
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Survivor recalls frantic escape as 23 feared dead after Indonesia volcano eruption
Marapi’s eruption on Sunday was its third so far this year, and the deadliest since 1979.
Fifty-two people survived the eruption, including Cahyani and her friend Widya Azhamul Fadhilah who took shelter behind a huge rock on the side of the volcano as the ground shook and the air filled with sulphurous fumes that made it hard to breathe.
“She and I were already hypothermic, our hands and feet were hot, and we were shivering violently,” Cahyani added.
The women were with three other friends who also tried to escape the eruption. These friends have all died.
We asked to be carried, I did not want to use a stretcher because we were already in pain
A few hours later, rescuers finally arrived.
“We asked to be carried, I did not want to use a stretcher because we were already in pain,” Cahyani said.
This was her first hike, and would be her last, she added.
Since 2011, Indonesia’s volcanology agency has urged a local conservation agency and the environment ministry to close off an area within 3km radius of the summit to climbers.
