Three hikers — two Singaporeans and a local — who were in an off-limits area died Friday in an eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono volcano, officials said. Several others were missing. The eruption on Halmahera island sent an ash cloud about 6 miles into the air, but no towns or villages were close enough to face any immediate threat. Twenty hikers were on the slopes when disaster struck, North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters at a volcano monitoring station in Mamuya village. Nine were from Singapore and the rest were Indonesian, he said.

Full report : Indonesian authorities halt search for three hikers missing as Mount Dukono eruption continues.