Teenager is washed to death as she poses for a photo on rocks in Indonesia – as locals desperately try to save her
This is the tragic moment a teenager was washed away while posing for a photo on a rocky beach as locals desperately tried to save her life.
Merlin Septiana, 18, had arrived with her friends on December 19 to take photos at Semeti Beach in Central Lombok regency.
She was seen in a photo taken seconds before she was hit, wearing headphones that may have blocked out the sound of the waves.
The excited schoolgirls took turns posing on a rocky cliff, but a raging wave knocked Merlin off her crag.
The footage shows panicked locals trying to save Merlin, with her desperately clinging to a boulder in the video as the swirling waters pounded her. But soon she slipped and disappeared under the foaming white stream.
Lalu Wahyu Efendi, head of the Mataram Search and Rescue Office, said the incident occurred around 3pm local time.
He said: ‘Attempts by her friends to help using improvised tools such as wood and fishing rods were unsuccessful. Local residents immediately reported the matter to the police.’
Rescue teams and police officers were dispatched to search along the coast. They discovered Merlin’s limp corpse smashed against the rocks at 5:13 p.m.
Merlin Septiana (pictured) had arrived with her friends on December 19 to take photos at Semeti Beach in Central Lombok regency
Frantic locals try to save Merlin, seen in the video desperately clinging to a boulder as the rushing waters ravage her
Rescue teams and police officers were dispatched to search along the coast
Ridwan Mak’ruf, director of the Central Lombok Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), said: ‘The girl’s body was collected by the search and rescue team, the BPBD and the police. However, she was already dead.’
Merlin’s body has been returned to her family in Tanak Awu village.
On October 13, a male student was also washed away by a wave on a beach cliff in Indonesia.
Roni Josua Simanjuntak, 20, from North Sumatra, was standing on wet rocks with some friends when the wave crashed into boulders and white water rushed towards Kedung Tumpang Beach in East Java on October 13.
His corpse was found face down off Karang Payung beach on October 18.
Although Indonesian beaches are beautiful, they pose several dangers, including strong currents, rough waves and unpredictable tides that can make swimming dangerous, especially for inexperienced swimmers.