Missing boat near Anak Krakatau: Five journalists and three passengers wanted

Five journalists and three other passengers from a boat that went missing near the Indonesian volcano Anak Krakatau have been missing for days. The group set sail from the coast of Java's Banten province on Monday to document the volcano's latest eruption, authorities said. The eruption of Anak Krakatau on Friday last week threw air traffic in the island nation into chaos and made headlines around the world.

The missing journalists are Indonesian citizens, one of whom reportedly worked for the Turkish news agency Anadolu. Also on board were the captain, a crew member and a guide.

According to the Basarnas rescue authority, there was last contact with the group on Monday afternoon (local time). According to local media, the guide had sent a photo of himself near Anak Krakatau. Then the connection to the boat was lost.

Search with thermal imaging drones

The military, police and fishermen in the region also took part in the search. However, it had to be temporarily stopped due to dangerous weather conditions and high waves. Because neither helicopters nor airplanes could be used due to the volcanic ash still floating in the air, two thermal imaging drones were to be used, as operations coordinator Rizky Dwianto said.

There is currently no concrete explanation for the boat's disappearance. However, the area is currently particularly turbulent: the eruption of Anak Krakatau lasted around 25 hours and it continues to spew ash and lava at regular intervals. The Indonesian volcanology authority PVMBG therefore keeps the volcano at the second highest warning level 3 and has set an exclusion zone of three kilometers around the crater.

The outbreak led to the temporary closure of several important airports in Java and Sumatra - more than 170,000 passengers were affected at the beginning of the week.

The name Anak Krakatau means “child of Krakatau”. The Fire Mountain, which lies between Java and Sumatra, was created after the massive eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 from its caldera - the large cauldron-shaped depression that was created when the volcano collapsed. In 1929 the new volcano rose above the surface of the sea for the first time.

The eruption of 1883 is one of the most devastating volcanic disasters of modern times, killing more than 36,000 people. The explosion at that time is considered the loudest sound ever recorded.