BALI (Indonesia), August 16 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian tourist who disappeared over the weekend while climbing the largest active volcano on the Java Island has been rescued and hospitalized in stable condition, the Russian Embassy in Indonesia said.
“The Russian tourist has been evacuated from the Merapi volcano and temporarily put in a hospital in the city of Yogyakarta for rehabilitation,” the embassy's press-attaché Dmitry Solodov said Thursday.
Yevgeny Luchina, a 25-year-old resident of the city of Voronezh in central Russia, went missing on August 10 in an attempt to scale the southern slope of the Merapi volcano. He texted his girlfriend saying that he had lost his bearings and asked for help.
The rescue operation took five days and involved 10 professional mountain climbers, two medics, five experienced guides, 80 policemen and some volunteers, according to local authorities.
The rescue effort was hampered by almost impassable terrain and poor visibility due to frequent fogs.
Rescuers had to negotiate a virtual labyrinth of hardened lava and ashes created by Merapi eruption in October 2010 that killed over 300 people and forced 350,000 to evacuate.
Merapi is 2,930 meters (9,610 feet) high and has erupted regularly since 1548, according to official records.
