Rescue teams in Indonesia are racing against time to reach Juliana Marins, a Brazilian tourist who has been trapped in Mount Rinjani, an active volcano, for over three days.
Marins, a publicist and dancer from Rio de Janeiro, fell an estimated 984 feet down the volcano's treacherous terrain early on the morning of June 21, while hiking with a tour group near the crater rim, BBC News reported.
The accident occurred around 6:30AM local time in low visibility and cold conditions.
According to the Daily Mail, East Lombok Police spokesperson AKP Nikolas Osman, the group’s guide, had advised the 26-year-old to rest due to fatigue and continued with the other hikers. When the guide returned, she was gone.
Tourists later heard her screams echoing from below and contacted authorities. Initial drone footage confirmed she was alive, showing her sitting on a slope of grey soil far below the hiking trail, seemingly in shock.
Officials from Mount Rinjani National Park reported hearing her calls for help on Saturday, but when rescuers descended approximately 300 meters in her direction, she did not respond, and by Sunday (June 22) morning, she had vanished from the last known location.
On Monday (June 23), search teams located Marins again, this time even farther down the volcano's slope.
However, rescuers were forced to stop operations due to the weather and fog. They had "advanced just 250m down, they had 350m left to reach Juliana, but they retreated,” her family revealed on social media, per BBC.
Drone surveillance and rescue teams rappelling toward Segara Anak, the volcano’s crater lake, have continued efforts despite challenging terrain, cold temperatures, and dense fog that have hampered the use of thermal detection.
Adding to the urgency, Marins has been without water, food, or warm clothing since the fall. Her sister, Mariana, has called out false reports circulating online, including a video falsely claiming Marins had been rescued. “We even celebrated,” she said. “It was a shock to find out that it was a lie.”
“The information we have is that so far they have not been able to reach her, because the rescue ropes were not long enough, in addition to the low visibility,” Mariana said. “All the videos that were made are lies.”
Marins' family also criticized park authorities for keeping the trail open while their loved one needs help, adding: "We don't know the state of her health!”
Two members of the Brazilian woman's hiking group told the network Globo that the trek had been extremely difficult.
“It was so cold, it was really, really tough,” one said, while another described the conditions during the accident: “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.”
Marins, who had been traveling solo through Asia since February, had previously visited Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, documenting her adventures on social media. Her trip to Indonesia was meant to be another chapter in her exploration of the continent.
Brazil’s foreign ministry confirmed that the Brazilian embassy in Jakarta has sent representatives to monitor the rescue mission.
“The ambassador has personally contacted the International Director of the Search and Rescue Agency and the Director of the Indonesian National Disaster Agency,” the ministry stated, adding that they have received reports from local authorities on the operation’s progress.
Mount Rinjani, rising more than 3,700 meters above sea level, is Indonesia’s second-highest volcano. It is known for its breathtaking crater lake and panoramic views.
The volcano attracts thousands of hikers every year, but the climb can be perilous. In 2022, a Portuguese man died after falling from a cliff near the summit, and a Malaysian hiker lost his life in May of this year after a similar accident.