Indonesia temporarily closes Mount Rinjani hiking trail via Sembalun

Jakarta, July 18 Indonesia's Mount Rinjani National Park authority has temporarily closed the hiking trail via Pelawangan Sembalun leading to Segara Anak Lake on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara.

Through its official social media account, the authority said that the temporary closure was due to repairs on the trail at coordinates -8.389789, 116.440320, the site of recent accidents involving foreign hikers.

"Visitor safety is our priority," the park authority said on Friday.

The closure also aims to improve ecotourism facilities and strengthen sustainable management of the conservation area in Mount Rinjani National Park, it added.

Alternative routes currently available to hikers include Senaru - Pelawangan Senaru - Lake - Torean, and Sembalun - Pelawangan Sembalun - Summit.

The closure has been in effect since Wednesday, until further notice, Xinhua news agency reported.

Last month, a 27-year-old Brazilian female climber died after falling into a 600-meter-deep ravine while climbing Mount Rinjani.

Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) announced that the victim, with the initials JDSP, had fallen into the ravine. However, due to extreme weather and the remote location, the evacuation took longer than expected. She was found dead when the evacuation team finally reached her location.

Muhamad Hariyadi, head of the Mataram SAR Office in Lombok, said that one of the personnel managed to reach the victim's location in the ravine and, after an initial examination, found no signs of life on the victim.

Following the incident, Indonesian authorities evaluated the safety of the climbing system at Mount Rinjani.

Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, Governor of West Nusa Tenggara seeked input from all relevant parties to enhance tourism safety in the region, particularly at Mount Rinjani, to prevent similar accidents in the future.

He also noted that he had directly coordinated with Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, affirming the provincial government's commitment to work together with the ministry to improve safety conditions at Mount Rinjani.

Previously, Deputy Governor Indah Dhamayanti Putri also emphasised the need to reassess the climbing system, including existing regulations, to help prevent further tragedies

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