TOBELO, North Halmahera - Two small mounds of volcanic sand near the crater of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono, just 3m from where an Indonesian woman was found dead, are now the focus of an increasingly grim search on May 10 of two missing Singaporean hikers.

The two hikers have not been seen since the volcano erupted on the morning of May 8, showering climbers near the summit with hot rocks, ash and volcanic debris.

In a release on May 9, Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said: “The joint rescue team will resume the search on Sunday (May 10), particularly at the two mounds of material that have been marked using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates.”

“The two locations are strongly suspected to be linked to the two other victims who remain missing,” it added.

Members of a joint rescue team found the first victim, an Indonesian woman, at about 2.30 pm local time on May 9, around 50m from the rim of the crater.

Heavy rain had forced rescuers to stop work and take shelter after hours of combing through deep volcanic sand. When the rain eased, only the lower half of the woman’s body, from her feet to her waist, was visible above the ash.

Her remains were recovered and taken to the eruption comma...