Woman dies after falling into active volcano

Once again a tragedy is produced by the irresponsible mania of wanting a selfie in a dangerous place, after a woman died after falling to the bottom of an active volcano in Indonesia while trying to take a self-portrait while hiking.

The unfortunate incident occurred last Saturday, April 20, and the victim was identified as Huang Lihong, 31, who had traveled to Ijen, a park in East Java, with her husband, Zhang Yong, 32. The couple He made the trip solely and exclusively to take a photographic record at the top of the phenomenon known as the “blue fire”, where the flames of the Kawah Ijen volcano are seen in such a color.

Defense of your guide

After the incident was recorded and the subsequent recovery of the body, the guide responsible for the visit was briefly detained by the authorities, in order to clarify how the fatal accident occurred. In his defense, the tour leader explained that the couple complied with safety regulations without problems while they moved through safe places, however, at one point, he tried to take a photo in a dangerous place and was quickly warned.

At first Lihong obeyed, however, when the guide turned his back to continue, she wanted to try again to take a selfie on the edge of the volcano, but in a matter of seconds, while she was posing and her husband was preparing to capture the moment, she backed away a little. and she stepped on her long pants, which made her stumble and fall instantly inside the Kawah Ijen.

According to what the authorities reported, the fall suffered by the victim was between 75 and 80 meters, which is why the operation to rescue the body lasted around two hours. Likewise, the incident was recorded as an accident.

Problem to be avoided

The high statistics of selfie events have made several tourist sites make the decisive decision to ban them, based on research developed by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), in Sydney Australia, and published in the journal Journal of Travel Medicinewhich indicates that between 2008 and 2021, 379 people lost their lives for taking a selfie.

These are some of the tourist places where taking selfies is not allowed:

• Zoos or theme parks that have the presence of wild animals in California and New York.
• Royal Sydney National Park, Australia.
• Space Mountain, Disney World, United States.
• Beaches of Goa, India.
• Tower of London, England.
• Portofino port, Italy.
• Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
• Playa de Garoupe, France.
• Palace of Versailles, France.
• Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
• Taj Mahal, India.
• Bullfight in Pamplona, ​​Spain.
• Lake Tahoe in California, United States.
• Anne Frank House, Netherlands.
• Acropolis, Greece.
• Blue Mosque, Türkiye.
• With geishas in Kyoto, Japan.
• On board the trains of the West Japan Railway Company, Japan.