The bodies of two tourists missing after a volcano erupted in Indonesia have been discovered holding each other.

The bodies were recovered during a challenging operation hampered by treacherous terrain and heavy rainfall, according to Indonesia’s rescue agency head, Iwan Ramdani.

The bodies have been transported to a local hospital where they will undergo post-mortem examinations.

The volcano has continued its activity and has been persistently releasing ash since Friday, further complicating the evacuation efforts.

According to reports, debris was propelled as high as six miles into the atmosphere at its peak.

Despite warnings circulated across social media, several individuals “remain determined to climb, driven by the desire to create online content,” said North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu on Friday.

He added: “They were aware that climbing was prohibited as the mountain is a restricted zone due to its high alert status, but insisted on going ahead.”

A search operation conducted on Sunday morning deployed approximately 150 personnel using thermal drones to scan around the mountain’s crater rim.

It was confirmed on Saturday that one missing Indonesian hiker had perished, while 17 people, including seven Singaporeans and 10 Indonesians, survived.

The country’s Foreign Ministry said that the seven rescued will return to Singapore on Sunday.

It remains unclear when the bodies of those found deceased will be repatriated. Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported four additional eruptions on Sunday, with one blast propelling ash nearly a mile into the sky.

All activity has been prohibited within a 2.5-mile radius of the crater, as Mount Dukono has been placed on the third-highest alert level.

Professor Xueqin Jiang, widely dubbed China’s Nostradamus, made an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, sparking a fierce exchange with economist Steven Keen.

The episode, entitled “Heading For Global DEPRESSION!”, broadcast on Tuesday, May 5, saw Jiang issue a stark warning that the world is veering towards a “global depression.” Host Piers Morgan pressed him directly: “Professor Jiang, are we heading for a global recession, do you think?”

He responded with an alarming prediction: “I think that we are heading toward a global depression.” He went on to say, “And this is a process that could take decades. We are in a new normal. We are in an undiscovered country. We are at a level of destruction, a level of pain and suffering that we are moving toward that is unimaginable. So buckle up!”

Addressing the developing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, he stated: “China is not sitting this out.” Jiang continued, “We have the ceasefire in place because China did a lot of backdoor diplomacy in order to pressure the Iranians to attempt a ceasefire.

“This is out of character for China. China does not like to involve itself in other nations’ affairs, and so, I think, without Chinese pressure, we would not have the IRGC agreeing to the ceasefire in the first place,” he added. “The issue is that the United States continues to be unreasonable in negotiations with the Iranians.

“The Iranians have done a lot in order to try to accommodate the Americans,” Jiang added. “But when JD Vance went to Pakistan for the first time to negotiate with the Iranians, basically, it was a very heavy-handed ultimatum to the Iranians. And after that, I think that the Iranians recognize that there really is no hope in negotiating with the Americans.”

“The Americans want to escalate. Why? We don’t know, but we can expect that over the next few weeks, the escalation will increase,” Jiang continued. “Now, Trump has talked about using U.S. naval ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is clearly a provocation,” Jiang said. “And we might have an… incident which will allow Trump to justify a ground invasion.”

Economics professor and commentator Steve Keen, who also featured on the hard-hitting panel, confessed to being “terrified” by the potential fallout.

“I’m terrified about what the consequences could be here, because the Iranians have done a very clever tactic of basically guerrilla warfare at a national level, far beyond what the Vietnamese were ready for in the very first instance. And they are doing tit for tat.” Keen said.

“Anybody who’s been a supporter of America, of course, that includes the Arab principalities and kingdoms and the Israelis as well, will be retaliated for any attack on specific similar resources inside Iran itself,” Keen added. “Now, Trump, there’s already been one attack on a desalination plant in Iran. And I think I’ve seen figures to say that 96% of Iran’s water is natural.

“You look at the other side, the Arabian side,” he pointed out. “Some of them have 96% dependence upon desalination.

“If it goes that far, then we will, and they have no idea how this stupid attack is going to turn out, then that could mean that those areas have to be evacuated because people are not going to starve to death, they’re going to die of thirst.

“Now, these horrific possibilities here are just ludicrous,” Keen explained. “And it’s absolutely a monumental failure of judgment to begin this conflict in the first place.”

Warning that the world was on course for a recession, Keen also rounded on Trump’s former economics adviser Stephen Moore, branding the US the “evil empire.”

He told Morgan: “You guys have got a Hollywood version of your own history. It’s a joke from the outside. Nobody takes you seriously anymore! Get used to it!”