The orange lifeboat was empty when Suwarno examined it on Karangjambe beach in Kebumen, Central Java, on Monday last week. Suwarno, a guard from the Indonesian naval post at Legonding, hurried up a nearby hill, which was still covered by volcanic ash from Mount Kelud's recent eruption. "I saw dozens of footprints heading for the hilltop," he told Tempo.

At the top, Suwarno found 26 people who looked Middle Eastern. They panicked, and some of them f