‘Danger is always lurking': Experts reveal what happens if you fall into an active volcano

News.com.au

9 hours ago

The plight of a young Brazilian tourist who fell into an active volcano in Indonesia has raised questions about the dangers of trekking in the country, which is made up of some 17,000 islands and sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire'.
26-year-old Juliana Marins, a publicist and pole dancer from Rio de Janeiro, had been trying to summit Mount Rinjani, the second highest volcano in Indonesia, when she slipped and fell last week.
While Rinjani is an 'active' volcano, it is not currently erupting and the last recorded eruption was in 2016 which caused a 2 kilometre ash plume but no fatalities.
It has the potential to erupt periodically, unlike other volcanoes which are extinct, but it is not under 'alert' at the moment, meaning that an eruption is not considered imminent.
Global health expert and medical doctor at YARSI University in Jakarta, Dr Dicky Budiman, explained to news.com.au that Rinjani is extremely high with deep ravines, extreme temperatures and volcanic gases.
'If people fall while trekking, they can sustain multiple broken bones and traumatic head injuries which are the most dangerous and can be fatal,' he said.
'If people survive the initial fall, there are other risks such as poisonous gases and extreme temperatures which can cause asphyxia and hypothermia.
'When trekking on active volcanoes, there can be extremely high temperatures around thermal vents and poisonous gases which are colourless and have no smell, and can poison you without you knowing, causing you to have breathing problems, asphyxiate and die.
'Hypothermia can happen if victims fall into a crater lake and are in the water for a long time, but if they fall into an active crater, victims can also suffer from burns from piping hot steam or scorching hot surfaces.'
Dr Budiman added that hikers should always follow the official paths and should not try to find alternative or illegal routes on mountainsides. They should also use local guides and follow their advice.
He added that many foreign hikers in Indonesia were often ill prepared as the local terrain was very different to their home countries, and that anyone planning to trek in Indonesia should make sure that they were physically fit enough before starting out.
'Danger is always lurking'
Local guides from across Indonesia, including those familiar with Rinjani, told news.com.au that trekking in the country, which has some 130 active volcanoes, always carried some risk and that survival rates could be low if climbers found themselves in trouble.
Samsul, who like many Indonesian goes by one name, is a local guide in Banten Province who has led tours around the Anak Krakatau volcano and Ujung Kulon National Park.
He explained that safety protocols and planning were the key to staying safe.
'When you do an activity like this, you need to be extra careful and always double check to ensure that all members of the trek are accounted for,' he said.
'All recreational places are dangerous, in fact the dangerous ones are the ones that present the most interesting challenges and are like magnets for trekkers.
'Danger is always lurking, so you can't be even a little careless. A seasoned guide constantly needs to warn hikers about dangers along the climbing path which can cause slipping and falling, and other hazards such as fallen trees, potential landslides or loose rocks.'
He added that this advice did not just apply to mountains and volcanoes, but that visitors to Indonesia needed to be mindful of safety whether they were in mountainous areas, forests and jungles, or the water.
Another local climber Ajo, who previously worked as a guide leading trekkers to Mount Marapi which means 'Mountain of Fire' and is located in West Sumatra Province, said that, in his experience, it was rare for anyone to survive a fall while trekking – especially if evacuation was not carried out immediately due to poor weather or remote terrain.
'Usually people will have sustained injuries when they fall which will affect their ability to survive,' he explained.
'If you fall with inadequate protective equipment, it can be very dangerous to vulnerable parts of your body like your head and that makes the potential for death high.
'Trekking in Indonesia is inherently dangerous. However, the risk can be minimised with thorough preparation and knowledge of the dangers.'
He added that just some of the perils included extreme weather, difficult terrain, the risk of getting lost, injury and wild animals.
'Besides that, the characteristics of each mountain are different, and sometimes that is what makes trekking dangerous and risky. Before trekking or climbing, we must know all about the specifics of the local terrain.'
Ahmad Syamsul Hadi, a member of parliament for Central Lombok, told news.com.au that Rinjani 'offers some of the best trekking in Indonesia' and was no more hazardous than other mountains across the country as long as tourists took appropriate precautions.
'There are of course challenges to trekking Rinjani, and you need to be physically fit and have a lot of stamina.
'The terrain is changeable and not in a straight line to the summit.
'The route takes you up and down, on flat paths, then hiking trails and then downhill. So it takes a lot of energy.
'It is not recommended that you attempt to trek by yourself if you are a beginner. It is not just a case of walking around a mountain for a few hours, you need to be much more prepared.'
He added that, if things went wrong on a trek, it was often a race against time.
'People need to be rescued within 72 hours to have a chance of survival, especially if they do not have any food or water with them,' he said.
'The weather is also quite extreme on Rinjani due to its elevation of some 3000 metres and it is extremely cold.'
Hadi said however that the Indonesian authorities were highly experienced in recovering stranded tourists, and that three separate helicopters had been dispatched to try and rescue Marins, with the governor of East Nusa Tenggara personally overseeing the mission in an effort to bring her home safely.
'We hope that everyone will be safe. We hope for the best,' he said.
Fadli, who has worked as a porter on Rinjani for the past three years, carrying supplies and luggage for climbers, told news.com.au that 'all mountains are dangerous'.
'The challenges on Rinjani are the same as other mountains in Indonesia, but the biggest problem is that climbers are often ill prepared when they attempt to summit the mountain and then descend.
'Examples of this would be not bringing enough water or food, or not bringing essential medication with them.'
Fadli put survival rates of trekkers at 'about 50 per cent' if they suffered a fall, especially if they were close to the summit of a mountain where terrifyingly steep ravines can be between 500 metres to one kilometre deep and 'covered in loose rocks'.
'If a victim falls and gets snagged on a rock, there is a higher chance of survival, but if they just keep on falling, the chance decreases,' he said.