Mount Rinjani latest: Search enters critical hours for Brazilian tourist who fell into active volcano in Indonesia

According to the local guide helping a group of international tourists, Juliana Marins slipped at a narrow section of the trail and lost her balance before plummeting into the ravine, reported Jakarta Globe.

“Juliana was initially visible from the cliff after the fall, but we lost visual contact once the fog rolled in,” said Gede A Mastika, Head of Search and Rescue (SAR), according to the outlet.

Search efforts have been complicated by thick fog, rain, and challenging terrain, with officials using thermal imaging technology to locate her.

“The drone picked up a heat signature matching the victim’s last known location,” said Mataram SAR chief Muhammad Hariyadi.

Indonesian authorities have deployed three helicopters to try and rescue Juliana Marins as the search enters a critical stage, confirmed West Nusa Tenggara governor Lalu Muhamad Iqbal.

“One helicopter from the Indonesian Armed Forces and national search and rescue agency (Basarnas) is expected to arrive at Zainuddin Abdul Madjid International Airport (BIZAM) around 2pm local time today,” Mr Iqbal said in a message to reporters in Mataram.

“All possible efforts will be made for a swift and safe evacuation,” he said.

An official from Indonesia forest ministry defended the decision to keep the park open for tourists as family pushed back against the decision.

Hikers are moving on the same route “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!” said the family, according to BBC News.

However, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, an official from Indonesia’s forestry ministry, defended the decision saying that the route was not shut as the officials found that keeping it open “would not disrupt the evacuation process”.

“Climbers were cautioned and directed not to approach the evacuation site,” he said.He added that some of the tourists had made bookings online and were travelling long distance for the hike.

“Closing the climb would have potentially caused chaos for those climbers,” he said.

While drone footage and other clips filmed by hikers appeared to show Marins was alive after falling from the trail on Saturday, rescuers could not find her when they descended 300m to where they believed she was located.

Drone footage reportedly showed Marins sitting up and moving around at first, but later there was no response to rescuers calling out her name.

By Sunday morning, the rescuers were not able to locate her at site previously identified from the drone footage, and dense fog hampered their efforts to proceed further, said the park authorities.

Indonesia’s Gunung Rinjani National Park confirmed in a statement on Monday that drone footage showed Marins wedged on a rock ledge approximately 1,640 feet deep inside the volcano.

Though she initially appeared motionless, rescue teams reportedly heard screams for help later that day, BBC reported.

A large-scale search and rescue operation is underway, but progress has been hindered by treacherous terrain, thick fog, and rapidly changing weather conditions.

Helicopter access has been ruled out, and park officials say rescue teams had to retreat for safety on multiple occasions.

“For safety, the rescue team was pulled back to a safe position,” park authorities said in a statement.

Her condition remains unknown more than three days later.

Juliana Marins was hiking with a small group on Mount Rinjani when she reportedly asked to stop and rest. But the local hiking guide chose to continue on without her, claims Ms Marins’ sister, Marianna, in an interview with Brazilian TV station Fantástico.

When the guide returned, Ms Marins had fallen down a steep cliff into the volcano, she said.“She didn’t know where to go,” Marianna said.

“She didn’t know what to do. When the guide came back because he saw that she was taking too long, he saw that she had fallen down there.”

Two members of Ms Marins’ group described the hike as difficult. In an interview withIn interviews with Brazilian TV network Globo, one person said the climb was “really hard” and “it was so cold, it was really, really tough” while another added that she was at the back of the group.

“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,” he said.

Juliana Marins, 26, was hiking with a small group on Mount Rinjani on Saturday when she fell more than 1,600 feet from a trail overlooking Mount Rinjani’s crater lake over the weekend.

A Brazilian woman remains trapped inside an active volcano in Indonesia after she fell more than 1,600 feet from a trail overlooking Mount Rinjani’s crater lake over the weekend.

The incident happened on Saturday after Juliana Marins, 26, was “abandoned” by her hiking guide, her sister Marianna told Brazilian TV station Fantástico.

Marins was hiking with a small group on Mount Rinjani when she reportedly asked to stop and rest. But the local hiking guide allegedly chose to continue on without her, Marianna Marins claimed. When the guide returned, Marins had fallen down a steep cliff into the volcano.