A daring rescue operation is underway in Indonesia to save 26-year-old Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins, who fell while hiking near the crater of Mount Rinjani, an active volcano on Lombok island.
Marins was part of a group trekking to the summit when she disappeared around 06:30 local time on Saturday, June 21. According to Brazilian authorities, she fell from “a cliff that surrounds the trail next to the volcano’s crater”.
Rescuers heard Marins’s screams for help on Saturday and initially found her safe but in shock. However, subsequent attempts to locate her were hindered by extreme terrain and foggy weather.
Drone footage showed Marins alive and moving on Saturday, but she was no longer at the location by Sunday morning. On Monday, rescuers spotted her again, but had to retreat due to “climate conditions”.
The family of Marins expressed frustration over the slow progress, stating that rescuers “advanced just 250m down, they had 350m left to reach Juliana but they retreated”.
The rescue operation has restarted, with authorities deploying thermal drones, mountaineering gear, and a helicopter to reach Marins. Muhammad Hariyadi, head of Lombok’s Mataram Search and Rescue Office, said, “Yesterday morning we detected the victim.
We deployed a team to the location but we were hampered by the very steep terrain and the foggy weather”. The Brazilian embassy in Jakarta is working closely with Indonesian authorities to monitor the rescue efforts.
Mount Rinjani park authorities have faced criticism for not closing the route, despite the ongoing rescue operation.
Satyawan Pudyatmoko, an official from Indonesia’s forestry ministry, explained that closing the climb “would have potentially caused chaos for those climbers” who had made bookings online and traveled long distances to reach Mount Rinjani.
Marins’ family has raised concerns about the park remaining open, stating, “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!”
The rescue operation is complicated by the extreme terrain and weather conditions on Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second-largest volcano.
The mountain’s height of over 3,700 meters and unpredictable weather make it a challenging climb. In 2018, hundreds of hikers and guides became stranded on the mountain after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the island, resulting in 17 deaths.
More recently, a Portuguese man died after falling off a cliff on the summit in 2022, and a Malaysian hiker died after a fall in May this year.
As the rescue operation continues, the family of Marins remains hopeful, with an Instagram account set up to call for her urgent rescue amassing over one million followers.
The Brazilian foreign ministry has confirmed that it is in touch with the Indonesian government and has sent two embassy employees to monitor the rescue efforts.