Mount Marapi: Death toll from Indonesia volcano eruption rises to 22 as more bodies found

Rescuers searching Indonesia's Mount Marapi volcano have found 11 more bodies following an eruption two days ago, raising the number of confirmed dead to 22.

More than 50 climbers were rescued after the initial eruption on Sunday, and 11 others were initially confirmed dead.

The bodies of two climbers were located on Monday and nine more on Tuesday, the National Search and Rescue Agency said. One person remains missing, presumed dead.

Search efforts had to be temporarily halted on Monday, when a second eruption spewed 2,620 feet into the air.

The latest body discoveries were made only a few metres away from the eruption site, said Edi Mardianto, the deputy police chief in West Sumatra province.

Rescuers are contending with bad weather, terrain constraints and scouring wind.

A video released by West Sumatra's Search and Rescue Agency showed rescuers evacuating an injured climber on a stretcher off the mountain and into a waiting ambulance to be taken to hospital.

Marapi has stayed at the third-highest of four alert levels since 2011, a level indicating above-normal volcanic activity, prohibiting climbers and villagers within 1.8 miles of the peak, according to Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.

Climbers were only allowed below the danger zone, and they had to register at two command posts or online.

However, local officials acknowledged many people may have climbed higher than permitted and residents also could have been in the area, making the number of people stranded by the eruption impossible to confirm.

Marapi spewed thick columns of ash as high as 9,800 feet in Sunday's eruption and hot ash clouds spread for several miles.

Nearby villages and towns were blanketed by tons of volcanic debris that blocked sunlight, and authorities recommended people wear masks and eyeglasses if possible to protect themselves from the ash.