Indonesian authorities ⁠were rushing to rescue 20 hikers after the eruption of Mount Dukono on Halmahera Island on Friday, a local rescue ‌agency official said.

Mount Dukono, located in North Maluku province, erupted on Friday at 7.41am, spewing volcanic ash as high as 10km (six miles) ⁠into the sky, the country’s Geology Agency said.

The agency ‌maintained the alert status at the mountain at its third highest level, ‌agency head Lana Saria said in a statement.

Iwan ⁠Ramdani, ⁠the head of the local rescue agency, said that ‌they have deployed dozens of personnel, including police, to search ‌for the ‌20 people trapped by the eruption. “Our team is on its way. It is not yet confirmed if there are injured people.”

Nine them are Singaporean and the ⁠rest are Indonesians, according to Iwan.