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.
“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.”
Her condition remains unknown more than three days later.
Indonesia’s Gunung Rinjani National Park confirmed in a statement 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.
Marins’ family is urgently appealing for additional support, expressing frustration with the pace of the rescue.
“A whole day and they advanced only 250 meters below, there were 350 meters left to reach Juliana, and they retreated,” read a family statement on Instagram. “We need help, we need the rescue to reach Juliana urgently!”
On Monday, the family announced that two experienced local mountaineers equipped with specialized gear were en route to the site to aid in the effort.
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.
Her family says they learned of her disappearance through social media. A friend alleged that Indonesian authorities have given conflicting updates, including a claim that Marins had been reached and given food and water — something the family disputes.
“We’re living in a nightmare here,” the friend said in a video posted online.
The Brazilian embassy in Jakarta is reportedly helping coordinate communication between the family and the tour company involved. The embassy has not commented publicly on the incident.
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