Influencer branded ‘insane’ after taking footage simply toes away from volcano eruption

An ‘insane’ influencer has been slammed by social media users for posing next to an erupting volcano in North Maluku, Indonesia, on 31 January – as huge grey clouds rose behind him

An influencer has been called “insane” for recording footage of himself posing just metres away from an erupting volcano. Echa Thawil, a travel content creator with over 5,000 followers on Instagram, shares moments from his adventures, including visits to temples, palaces and waterfalls.

In a particularly extreme post, he climbed Mount Dukono in North Maluku, Indonesia, on 31 January and recorded a violent explosion at the top of the active volcano. The video quickly acquired 3.7million views from shocked social media users.

The clip starts with Echa filming the eruption from above. He uses his camera’s zoom function to capturer a crater filled with grey rocks and rubble. Suddenly, a red mass starts to rise from below.

It moves the floor of rocks higher and higher until they eventually explode. A big bang can be heard and rocks can be seen flying from the area.

Huge grey clouds then rise from the crater as huge winds are heard in the background. Echa then poses for a photo in front of the eruption before grey smoke fills the air.

He captioned the post: “Dukono Volcano.” The video has gathered over 224,000 likes and 1,200 comments from users.

Kelana said: “Scary. This man is incredible.” Raden commented: “The zoom was insane.”

Rizky wrote: “Watching earth fart for a moment.” Someone else said: “Men,” followed by a laughing emoji.

Glen added: “Expensive video, but very dangerous!”

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