A woman visiting an active volcano tourist site in Indonesia died after slipping and falling into the crater while taking a commemorative photo.
Chinese female tourist Ms. Hwang died after falling down while taking commemorative photos at an Indonesian volcano. Photo by Sing News
On the 22nd (local time), British media such as The Independent reported that on the 20th, a 31-year-old Chinese female tourist, Huang Lihong, fell to her death from the 75-meter-high crater of the famous active volcano tourist site, Ijen Volcano, while posing for a photo.
Huang had gone up to the edge of the crater with her husband to watch the sunrise when the accident occurred. While taking commemorative photos near the volcanic crater, she stepped backward, accidentally stepped on her own clothes, lost her balance, and rolled down.
The accompanying tour guide said, "We warned them to keep a safe distance from the edge of the crater because it was dangerous when taking photos," and added, "At first, she was taking photos about 2 to 3 meters away from the crater edge, but she started moving backward for a more beautiful background."
Local media released the last photo Huang took just before her fall. The photo showed Huang posing and sulfur gas and steam rising from the crater.
The Ijen active volcano, where the accident occurred, is a world-famous tourist destination known for the "blue fire" phenomenon. Blue fire refers to the spectacular blue light emitted during the combustion of sulfur gas inside the volcano when it comes into contact with air. Tourists from around the world flock to see this, but accidents continue to happen. In February, a Polish tourist in his 50s was found dead on a hiking trail, and in 2015, a Swiss man in his 60s died after complaining of breathing difficulties while heading toward the crater.
Meanwhile, cases of injuries or deaths while taking certification shots at tourist sites are not uncommon. In October last year, a Korean tourist in Vietnam died after falling about 4 meters off a cliff while taking photos. In Korea, in November last year, a tourist visiting Jeju suffered serious injuries after falling from a cliff near Oedolgae while taking photos.
In December last year, a research team from the University of New South Wales in Australia released a study showing that from 2008 to 2021, about 400 people worldwide died while taking so-called "life shots."
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