Efforts are still underway to try and rescue a 26-year-old Brazilian tourist who fell into an active volcano in Indonesia. Per BBC, Juliana Marins was hiking close to the crater of Mount Rinjani when she fell.
Located on the island of Lombok and standing at 3,726 meters, Mount Rinjani is the second highest volcano in Indonesia. The popular tourist location also attracts hiking enthusiasts.
Marins was with a group of hikers when she went missing early Saturday morning. Authorities in Brazil said the 26-year-old fell from “a cliff that surrounds the trail next to the volcano’s crater.”
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“It was really early, before sunrise, in bad visibility conditions with just a simple lantern to light up the terrain which was difficult and slippery,” a climber who was part of Marins’ group told Brazilian TV network Globo.
Another climber also described the climb as “really hard,” adding that “it was so cold, it was really, really tough.”
And though efforts are underway to rescue Marins, Indonesian authorities said those attempts have been thwarted by the challenging terrain and foggy weather. On Saturday, however, Marins was heard shouting for help, Mount Rinjani park authorities disclosed. They also said she wasn’t in danger during that period, but she was seemingly in a state of shock.
Videos that were shared online and by Brazilian news outlets also showed Marins down the cliff on Saturday. She was seen in a sitting position and making movements, seemingly indicating that she was still alive.
Rescuers were, however, unable to locate her later on Saturday. That was after they made a 300m (984ft) descent to the spot they thought she was at, BBC reported. They also tried to get her attention, but there was no response from her.
Park authorities said that drone footage on Sunday indicated she had disappeared from that spot. They also said their rescue efforts and operation of a thermal drone were being stalled because of thick fog.
Marins was eventually found by rescuers on Monday, but she had apparently descended deeper, her family said, adding that “climate conditions” had caused those rescue efforts to be halted.
Her family on social media also said rescuers had “advanced just 250m down, they had 350m left to reach Juliana but they retreated,” per BBC. Despite her predicaments, the 26-year-old’s family said that the park was still operating, and the route in question was still being accessed by hikers. They said all of this was happening “while Juliana is NEEDING HELP! We don’t know the state of her health! She still has no water, food or warm clothes for three days!”
Earlier, Marins’ sister told Brazilian TV station Fantástico that Marins was “abandoned” by a local hiking guide before she fell. She claimed that Marins asked her guide to “stop for a while” after she “got very tired” during her hike, however, the guide didn’t but continued without Marins. “They continued on, and the guide didn’t stay with her,” Marianna said.
On Monday, an official with the Asian nation’s forestry ministry told the news outlet that there was no need to cordon off the trail because officials determined it “would not disrupt the evacuation process.” “Climbers were cautioned and directed not to approach the evacuation site,” the official said.
The official also said that other climbers had traveled from far and already booked online to visit Mount Rinjani. “Closing the climb would have potentially caused chaos for those climbers,” he added.
Marins’ family on Tuesday announced that rescue efforts had resumed.
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