Search enters critical hours for Brazilian tourist who fell into active volcano in Indonesia: Latest

Key Points

• Brazilian tourist trapped 1,600ft down in active volcano for three days after ‘guide abandoned her’
• Who is Juliana Marins?
• How did Brazilian tourist fall near the crater of Mount Rinjani?
• Indonesia forest ministry defends keeping park open as rescue operation continues
• Family issues desperate plea for Marins' rescue

At least 50 people working to rescue Marins

Some 50 people are involved in the effort to rescue 26-year-old Juliana Marins, who fell off a cliff into Indonesia's Gunung Rinjani while hiking there on Saturday.

"We are in the process of going down there... It is very steep so very difficult for us to reach her," said the head of the local rescue team Muhammad Hariyadi.

He told Reuters that the soft sand in the area made it difficult to retrieve her using ropes, and that a helicopter was on its way to the site.

A view of Mount Rinjani, also known as Gunung Rinjani, is seen on 19 May 2009 in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia (Getty)

He said Marins, who was located on Saturday, was slipping further on the sandy terrain of the cliff face. She was at a depth of 150m when first discovered, but had slipped to 500m by Monday morning, he added.

As of Tuesday morning, rescuers were still struggling to get down the cliff."There was also thick fog on the site that made it even more difficult," Mr Hariyadi said.

Rescuers have not been able to confirm whether Marins is still alive. Drone footage showed that she was not moving, Hariyadi said.

Indonesia to close hiking track out of respect to Marins and her family

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said in a statement that the Mount Rinjani hiking track would be closed to ease the evacuation effort and out of respect to Marins and her family.

The announcement comes as Marins’ family pushed back against the decision to keep the park open for tourists.

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!" the family had earlier said, according to BBC News.

However, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, an official from Indonesia's forestry ministry, previously 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 had said.

Indonesia races to rescue Brazilian hiker stranded on volcano cliff for more than three days

Emergency responders in Indonesia are struggling to find a Brazilian woman who fell off a cliff while hiking up the country's second highest volcano at the weekend, officials said on Tuesday.

Juliana Marins, 26, was walking with five friends on Mount Rinjani on Saturday when she slipped and fell off a cliff on the side of the 3,726m mountain, head of local rescuers Muhammad Hariyadi told Reuters.

Located in West Nusa Tenggara province, the active volcano is a popular tourist site in the Southeast Asian archipelago. Marins fell off a cliff on the mountain, but not into the volcano crater, Mr Hariyadi said.

Marins 'was not moving' when last seen on Monday, says rescue team lead

When the search and rescue team last detected Juliana Marins using drones on Monday morning “she was not moving”, said Muhammad Hariyadi, head of Lombok’s Mataram Search and Rescue Office.

Explaining the delay in reaching her, he said rescue efforts were hampered by the steep terrain and foggy weather.

“One group is monitoring the evacuation using a thermal drone. The second team is doing the manual evacuation process with a rope as the main tool,” Mr Hariyadi told AFP.

“This morning around 50 rescuers have been dispatched, and we plan to send a helicopter team to scour the location.”

Marins fell off a narrow section of trail, says guide

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.

Indonesia deploys three helicopters to join rescue mission

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.

Indonesia forest ministry defends keeping park open as rescue operation continues

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".

File: Indonesian and foreign climbers walk down from Mount Rinjani at Sembalun village in Lombok, Indonesia (Reuters)

"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.

What does the last drone footage show?

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.

Family issues desperate plea for Marins' rescue

Juliana Marins’ family is urgently appealing for additional support, expressing frustration with the pace of her rescue.

“Juliana has been missing for over 2 days on Mount Rinjani, in Lombok, Indonesia. She needs URGENT rescue! Her life is depending on that!” read a family statement on Instagram.

On Monday, the family announced that two experienced local mountaineers equipped with specialised gear were en route to the site to aid in the effort.

Efforts to rescue Marins underway as her condition remains unknown

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.

How did Brazilian tourist fall near the crater of Mount Rinjani?

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.”

General view of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, with Mount Rinjani in the distance on 23 July 2013 in Probolinggo, Indonesia (Getty)

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.

Who is Juliana Marins?

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.

Marins, who is a publicist from Niterói, based near Rio de Janeiro, had been documenting her backpacking trip through Southeast Asia on Instagram, sharing images from Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Juliana Marines, 26, posted a picture on Instagram captioning it as 'never try never fly' (ajulianamarins/instagram)

Brazilian tourist, 26, has been trapped 1,600ft down an active volcano for three days

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.

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