An Australian woman has died after falling from a cliff at a popular tourist beach near Bali, Indonesia. Brianna Cronin, 29, an ecologist from Queensland, was found stranded on the side of a cliff at Kelingking Beach on the island of Nusa Penida in the east of Bali on Saturday morning, local time. The incident was first reported by an island resident, prompting tourists nearby to alert lifeguards, and emergency services were sent to the scene.
Cronin fell before they could reach her. Nusa Penida's alert unit coordinator, Cakra Negara, said Cronin had been looking for a route to the cliff's edge when she slipped. "According to information from the field, the victim is estimated to have fallen around 9am," he said.
"At that time, the victim was looking for an independent route to the edge of the cliff before slipping and falling into the ravine." Klungkung Police official, Iptu I Dewa Nyoman Alit Purnawibawa, said Cronin's body was found on the beach, the Bali Times reported. Police told the newspaper that by the time she reached the shore below, "the victim had already deceased". A medical examination found she had suffered multiple fractures and other injuries caused by the rocks along the cliff face.
She was secured onto a stretcher to facilitate her evacuation. An evacuation by sea was ruled out because of high tides at the beach, so Cronin's body was instead carried back up the cliff's steep, narrow stairs by rescuers and bystanders working together, in an operation lasting around an hour and a half. Footage shared by the local search and rescue agency, Basarnas Bali, showed rescue workers and members of the public helping to bring her body up the difficult path.
She was later examined at Griya Medica Clinic on Nusa Penida. Queensland's premier, David Crisafulli, said Cronin's death had shaken the state. "A young woman on the trip of a lifetime, active, enjoying herself, and to have her life taken away in a heartbeat like that, it's just incredibly, incredibly sad," he said on Sunday.
I think all of Queensland collectively looks at that and just feels it, wakes up to just a huge degree of sorrow." Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to Cronin's family. "We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time. Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment," a spokesperson said.
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