Allegations of negligence and incompetency surround the death of a Brazilian female tourist who fell off a cliff next to an active volcano in Indonesia and efforts to save her proved futile.
Juliana Marins, a 26-year-old publicist, was hiking with a group of friends on Mount Rinjani, a popular tourist site in the Southeast Asian archipelago, when she slipped and fell about 490 feet down the cliff face nearly a week ago, according to news accounts.
The New York Post obtained bystander videos of the early rescue response.
However, her family now is claiming negligence led to her death, saying she was left behind by tour guides to fend for herself after complaining she was tired and needed to rest.
“We discovered this in contact with people who work in the park,” her sister, Mariana, said in an interview reported by the media company Remezcla. “Juliana was in this group, but she got very tired and asked to stop for a while. They moved on, and the guide didn’t stay with her.”
Marins was found dead Tuesday after efforts to save her were thwarted by thick fog and adverse conditions, according to Brazilian authorities cited by the Post.
However, her family, posting on social media, accused the rescue team of negligence for failing to save her within hours after the plunge down the slope. People featured a translation of the Instagram post:
Juliana suffered great negligence on the part of the rescue team. If the team had reached her within the estimated time of 7 hours, Juliana would still be alive. Juliana deserved much more! Now we are going to seek justice for her, because that is what she deserves! Don’t give up on Juliana!
Initial screams for help from Marins were reportedly heard by responders. Drone footage, posted on YouTube, showed her still alive after her first fall.
In addition to the visibility issues, the head of the local rescuers, Muhammad Hariyadi, said the young woman had become trapped on soft sand, making it difficult to try to retrieve her with ropes.
Two futile rescue attempts were made, authorities said.
“After four days of work, hindered by adverse weather, terrain, and visibility conditions in the region, teams from Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency found the body of the Brazilian tourist,” Brazil’s government said in a statement, according to the Post account.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
