Rescuers search for Brazilian tourist on Indonesian volcano

Rescuers in Indonesia are searching for a Brazilian tourist who fell while hiking near the crater of Mount Rinjani, an active volcano.

Brazilian media and the womans family have identified her as 26-year-old Juliana Marins, who was hiking with a group when she disappeared around 06:30 local time on Saturday (23:30 GMT Friday).

Brazilian authorities said she fell from "a cliff that surrounds the trail next to the volcanos crater".

Search and rescue attempts have so far been unsuccessful due to the extreme terrain and foggy weather, according to Indonesian authorities.

Mount Rinjani park authorities said in a social media post that rescuers on Saturday had heard Ms Marinss screams for help. At the time she was safe, though she appeared to be in shock, they said.

Drone footage and other clips filmed by hikers that have been circulating online and carried by Brazilian media also appear to show she was alive on Saturday. She was seen sitting and moving around in grey soil, far below a hiking path.

But later that day rescuers could not find her when they descended 300m (984ft) to where they believed she was located, nor did she respond when they called out to her.

By Sunday morning, drone footage showed that she was no longer at her location, said park authorities, who added that thick fog had hampered rescue efforts and affected the use of a thermal drone.

On Monday rescuers were able to locate Ms Marins again, who appeared to have had fallen even further, but had to stop work because of "climate conditions", according to the family.

Rescuers had "advanced just 250m down, they had 350m left to reach Juliana but they retreated", the family said on their social media account.

The family also claimed that the park remains open and that tourists were still hiking on the same route "while Juliana is NEEDING HELP! We dont know the state of her health! She still has no water, food or warm clothes for three days!"

Satyawan Pudyatmoko, an official from Indonesias forestry ministry, told the BBC on Monday that the route was not closed after officials evaluated that it "would not disrupt the evacuation process".

"Climbers were cautioned and directed not to approach the evacuation site," he said, adding that some climbers had made bookings online and travelled long distances to get to Mount Rinjani.

"Closing the climb would have potentially caused chaos for those climbers," he said.

The BBC has contacted Ms Marinss family and Mount Rinjani park authorities for comment.

On Tuesday, Ms Marins family wrote on social media that the rescue operation for her has restarted.

In interviews with Brazilian TV network Globo, two members in Ms Marinss group described the hike as difficult.

One said the climb was "really hard" and "it was so cold, it was really, really tough".

Another said at the time of the accident Ms Marins was at the back of the group hiking with their guide. "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.

The Brazilian foreign ministry said in a statement that it was in touch with the Indonesian government and had sent two embassy employees to monitor the rescue efforts.

Mr Satyawan, the forestry official, said on Monday that climbers should prioritise their safety while hiking.

In 2022 a Portuguese man died after falling off a cliff on the summit of Mount Rinjani. In May this year, a Malaysian hiker died after a fall while climbing the volcano.

With a height of more than 3,700m, Mount Rinjani is Indonesias second tallest volcano and a popular hiking spot with tourists.

Astudestra Ajengrastri contributed reporting from Jakarta