North Halmahera Police officially delivered the latest update regarding the identification of bone remains suspected to belong to two Singaporean nationals, Heng Wen Qiang Timothy (30) and Shahin Muhrez bin Abdul Hamid (27). Both were victims of the Mount Dukono eruption that occurred on May 8, 2026.
North Halmahera Police Chief, AKBP Erlichson Pasaribu, explained that the forensic laboratory test results from the Indonesian National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) have been received by the police. Based on the in-depth analysis, no DNA profile matching either victim was found in the bone samples previously evacuated.
Responding to these results, the police decided to pursue legal administrative channels as a follow-up measure. North Halmahera Police will coordinate with the Medical and Health Department (Dokkes) of the North Maluku Regional Police to immediately issue official death certificates for both victims.
The step to issue death certificates was taken to facilitate the administrative needs of the families in Singapore. Data adjustment will refer to the official forensic examination results previously conducted by the DVI team of Mabes Polri.
It should be noted that this tragic incident occurred when 20 climbers were at the peak of Mount Dukono during a sudden eruption. Although 17 people survived, three climbers were declared dead, two of whom were Singaporean foreign nationals whose remains were found buried under volcanic material in the form of bone fragments.
