More horrifying details have emerged following the tragic death of Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins, who was found dead last Tuesday after she fell while climbing Mount Rinjani, the second highest volcano in Indonesia.
According to an autopsy conducted by the Indonesian authorities, 26-year-old Marins died of “blunt force trauma” which caused massive internal bleeding and meant that she succumbed to her injuries within just 20 minutes.
Marins’ body was evacuated from Rinjani on Lombok on Wednesday and transported to Bali Mandara Hospital where an autopsy was conducted on Thursday.
Speaking to the media, forensic specialist Dr. Ida Bagus Putu Alit said that Marins died from severe trauma to “almost all parts of her body”.
“I could see that the worst [injuries] were related to the respiratory system and there were wounds to the chest area, and especially the chest and the back. These injuries damaged the internal organs. We saw a huge amount of bleeding in the chest cavity.”
He added that Marins had sustained a head injury, but that this had not been the primary cause of her death.
“In her chest and stomach, the bleeding was quite extensive, but there were no organs that were shrivelled, like her spleen, which would mean that the bleeding had lasted a long time,” Dr. Ida said.
“So, she died very quickly from her injuries.”
He added that Marins had sustained blunt force trauma from various objects but, as he had not been at the scene, he could not say with certainty what these had been.
However, he explained that blunt force trauma is usually caused by contact with flat and dense objects, and that Marins had significant scratch marks and abrasions to her body.
The terrain on Mount Rinjani is primarily made up of sand covered with pebbles and stones which are likely to have scratched Marins as she fell, and broken her bones as she was carried down the mountain and hit larger rocks and debris.
Dr. Ida said that her injuries were consistent with a fall, and that the worst injuries were to her back and limbs – including her left thigh bone which was broken.
Marins, a publicist and dancer from Rio de Janeiro, fell in the early hours of Saturday morning when she was close to the summit of Mount Rinjani which sits at an elevation of over 3,000 meters.
Initially, drone footage shot by passing hikers showed her alive having fallen some 200 meters down the mountainside.
In the harrowing video, Marins is sitting with her legs splayed out beneath her and with dust in her hair from the tumble down the steep slopes of Mount Rinjani.
She appears distressed and disorientated as tourists shout words of encouragement to her.
Asked how Marins could have died within 20 minutes when she was pictured alive on the drone footage, Dr. Ida said that he was only able to base his findings on the condition of her body and injuries, and had not seen the video.
However, when rescuers tried to reach Marins by repelling down the mountainside using ropes, they were unable to locate her in the place where she had originally been spotted.
Due to poor weather conditions and difficult terrain, her body was finally discovered much further down the mountain at around 600 meters, several days later.
As such, it is likely that the blunt force trauma that killed her occurred when she fell for the second time.
Dr. Ida said that, because her body had already been touched and moved before he conducted the autopsy – including when she was evacuated by rescuers and placed in a mortuary freezer – he could not pinpoint exactly when she died.
As such, he put the time of death at around 12 and 24 hours before he examined her – which would mean that she died some time on Wednesday.
However, rescuers who reached Marins on Tuesday said that there were no signs of life when they found her.
Experts told news.com.au that differing timelines were standard and that establishing time of death was not an exact science.
“Time of death can only be determined based on a time span, for example, between 2 to 8 hours before the examination,” Dr. Iwan Aflanie, a forensic expert and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Lambung Mangkurat University, said.
“The doctor determines the estimated time of death based on several factors, usually the common ones are livor mortis [bruising of the corpse], rigor mortis [stiffness of the corpse] and decay.”
However, if a corpse has been stored in a freezer, it can be more difficult to assess these factors, Dr. Iwan said, as cold temperatures stop the decay process and cause rigor mortis to be more pronounced.
Asked if Marins could have died of hunger or thirst, Dr. Ida said that the traumatic injuries to her body were the primary and immediate cause of death.
He added that there were also no signs of hypothermia such as blackening of the fingertips, but that they had been unable to test the fluid in Marins’ eyeballs – the usual test for hypothermia – as she had been stored in the freezer.
Temperatures on Rinjani can be close to freezing at night, and Marins fell without any protective equipment such as a blanket, thick jacket or tent.
“However, if we look at the injuries to the body and the bleeding, we can exclude hypothermia,” Dr. Ida said.
He said that toxicology tests still needed to be carried out which would take about two weeks and would test for a range of banned substances.
He added however that this was standard procedure and not meant to imply that Marins had been under the influence of any drugs when she died.
Marins’ family however have refused to accept the results of the first autopsy and a second autopsy is due to be carried out in Brazil.
Marins had been on the trip of a lifetime around Southeast Asia and had visited Vietnam and Thailand before arriving in Indonesia.
After she set off on her travels, she sent a heartbreaking final message to her mother in which she said she was looking forward to the future and had no fear.
“Mami, I love you so much. I was heartbroken when we said goodbye,” the message read.
“In fact, that’s the only thing that worries me: letting you, papi or my sister be disappointed. Other than that, I’m not afraid of much, much less trouble.”
“I was raised by a woman who can solve any problem and who is not afraid to take the plunge and go after her dreams. I am like that too. I have different desires and dreams.”
“I love you all very much! And I will always be grateful for all the support, care and affection. That is what makes me not afraid.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
