Chinese Tourist Dies After Falling into Active Volcano in Indonesia While Posing for Photo on the Edge

Huang Lihong
Huang Lihong (left) and the Ijen Crater in Banyuwangi. Twitter

An attempt to take a holiday photo turned tragic when a tourist plummeted to her death into an active volcano.

Huang Lihong fell hundreds of feet into the active volcano as she posed on the crater's edge for her husband to take a picture. The 31-year-old and her husband, Zhang Yong, were holidaying in Indonesia when she fell into the Ijen Crater in Banyuwangi, East Java on April 20, according to local media.

Investigators believe Lihong stumbled and fell after catching her clothing on the rock face and vanished down the volcano.

Lihong and Yong had climbed the slope with a local guide so they could watch the sunrise from the volcano's rim. However, as she posed for the pictures she stumbled which caused her to tumble backwards over the crater's edge.

One of the released photographs shows Lihong posing on what appears to be the rim of the volcano with one leg raised, with streams of steam and sulphur rising behind her.

Local media reports claim that she fell 75m (250ft) into the mouth of the volcano and that it took rescuers more than two hours to retrieve her body.

Dwi Putro Sugiarto, the head of the Department of Conservation for the Banyuwangi region, told local media that the incident was an accident and that tourists should always remain safe while scaling Mount Ijen.

Lihong's body is scheduled to be transported to Bali before it is taken by air back to China.

Mount Ijen is part of a group of volcanoes on the border between Banyuwangi and Bondowoso in East Java. They are known for their blue fire and crater lake, which is an effect created by sulphuric gas flowing from the crater.

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