Location of student who fell into Indonesian volcano detected

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has detected the location of a student who was reported to have fallen into Mount Merapi last Saturday.

According to local television news reports, the equipment used by Basarnas detected an object, believed to be that of the body of Ari Yunanto, 21, at a depth of more than 100 metres today.

However, the search and rescue team was still unable to enter the crater due to the presence of smoke and poisonous gas, and only expect to be able to do so later today, if it rained.

The student of the Atma Jaya University, Yogyakarta, was reported to have fallen into the crater of Mount Merapi, said to be 100 to 200 metres deep, while taking pictures at the peak of the mountain.

He was said to have climbed the mountain with five friends, who then lodged a report on the incident.

Mount Merapi, with its peak at 2,968 metres above sea level and located in the central Java province, is the most active in Indonesia.