Death toll from Indonesia's Mt Marapi eruption rises to 23

Rescuers prepare to evacuate the body of a climber killed in Mount Marapi's eruption in Agam on Dec 5. -BASARNAS via AP

JAKARTA: The death toll from the Mount Marapi volcanic eruption in Indonesia's West Sumatra province has risen to 23, all of them hikers, police said Wednesday (Dec 5), as ash and smoke blanketed parts of the region.

The hikers were among 75 people who were registered to climb Marapi, when the volcano suddenly erupted on Sunday afternoon, spewing hot gas and rocks into the air.