The family of a young Brazilian woman who died after falling into an active volcano in Indonesia accused her tour guide of abandoning her and believes Indonesian authorities mishandled recovery efforts.
Search crews recently retrieved the body of 26-year-old Juliana Marins from Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second-tallest volcano, located on the island of Lombok.
Marins slipped and fell down a ravine into the 12,000-foot volcano on June 21.
Mount Rinjani park authorities said rescuers heard her screams for help that day, triggering the rescue operation, according to the BBC. Three days after her fall, drone footage showed she was still miraculously alive.
But recovery efforts took a tragic turn when rescuers recovered her body on the fourth day of their search.
“After four days of work, made difficult by adverse weather, ground and visibility conditions in the region, teams from the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency found the body of the Brazilian tourist,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil stated, per CNN. “The Brazilian government extends its condolences to the family and friends of the Brazilian tourist for the immense loss caused by this tragic accident.”
Marins’ family also confirmed the 26-year-old’s death in a statement on social media.
Instagram posts from Marins’ profile documented her backpacking travels across Southeast Asia, including visits to Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
Her sister, Marianna, told local news outlet Fantástico that during her visit to Indonesia, she joined a small tour group to hike Mount Rinjani, according to the Daily Beast. Her sister said that at some point during the hike, she “got very tired” and asked her guide to stop for a while, but the guide decided to move on without her.
“They continued on, and the guide didn’t stay with her,” Marianna said. “She didn’t know where to go. 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.”
In the days after she went missing, family members and friends raised concerns about the search efforts, stating that they received little information or false claims from Indonesian officials.
Two days after Marins disappeared, one of her friends published a video statement on Instagram, stating that the family was in contact with the Brazilian embassy and the Indonesian government. However, officials only offered “conflicting, delayed, and often false information” about rescue efforts, including a false claim that Marins was offered food and water a day after she tumbled into the volcano.
Marins also slipped further into the volcano and disappeared from view for a time, which complicated the rescue mission. Officials told Reuters she fell roughly 500 feet at first, but then descended to more than 1,600 feet by Monday.
Four days into the operation, authorities used a thermal drone to find Marins’ body, which was transported to a hospital after it was recovered.
“Juliana suffered great negligence on the part of the rescue team,” the family wrote in a statement on social media, which was also shared by Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo. “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!”
Marins was a publicist and dancer who lived in Niteroi, outside Rio de Janeiro.
More than 50 people were involved in her search efforts, and thermal drones, mountaineering gear, and a helicopter were all utilized to reach the young woman.
Mount Rinjani has been the site of other hikers’ deaths in recent years. Earlier this year, a Malaysian hiker fell while climbing the volcano. In 2022, a Portuguese man died after falling off a cliff.
