Mount Dukono, located in North Maluku province bordering the Pacific Ocean, began erupting on Friday, spewing ash as high as 10km. It has continued to erupt at a lower scale ever since.
The area around the crater was still blanketed in volcanic ash, Iwan said, adding that search covers area around 1.25 km from the last known location of the victims.
Rescuers have found backpacks suspected to belong to the two Singaporeans. Survivors told police they believe the pair had died, police chief Erlichson had said.
On Friday, the local search and rescue agency identified the two missing Singaporean hikers as Heng Wen Qiang Timothy, 30, and Shahin Muhrez bin Abdul Hamid, 27, as it published a list of the survivors and missing.
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency BNPB said the two Singaporeans were located about 20m to 30m from the volcano’s main crater, but rescue efforts could not proceed because of extreme terrain conditions and heightened volcanic activity around Mount Dukono.
On Saturday, rescuers recovered the body of an Indonesian national believed to be a woman named Angel, said Iwan. The body will be brought to a regional hospital for identification.
A local tour guide, citing fellow guides, said that the victims had apparently taken a faster but more dangerous route up Mount Dukono, although it remains unclear whether the path was unofficial.
Seventeen people, including seven Singaporeans and 10 Indonesians, survived the incident.
The seven Singaporeans evacuated will return home on Sunday, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported at least three eruptions as of Sunday morning, with the highest spewing 1.3 km volcanic ash, it said in a statement.
The agency is still maintaining the third-highest alert level for Mount Dukono and bans any activities within 4 km of the crater.
Additional reporting by Denny Armandhanu