Mt Agung Rescue, Bali Basarnas Retrieves Dead Body of Korean Man

TheIndonesia.co - The Regional Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) of Bali on Friday found the body of a South Korean national who was reported missing after he went climbing on Mount Agung in Karangasem district.

In Denpasar on Friday, head of the Bali Basarnas, I Nyoman Sidakarya, identified the victim, who was found dead at an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level, as a 31-year-old South Korean male.

As quoted by Antara, Sidakarya said that Search and Rescue Unit (SRU) 1, which moved from Pura Pasar Agung around 7 a.m. local time, found the victim lying face down on the Pasar Agung climbing route.

"The position of the body was approximately 100 meters below (the route)," he added.

News of the missing South Korean citizen was first received by Bali Basarnas at 11:45 a.m. local time on Thursday through the South Korean Consulate.

Sidakarya said that the victim had contacted his friend in South Korea during the climb. This happened around 9 a.m. on Wednesday when the victim had reached an altitude of 2 thousand meters above sea level, but there was no further news of him after that, he added.

After it was notified, the Basarnas team promptly checked the location on Mount Agung and found his rental motorbike at Pura Pasar Agung.

Around 1:20 p.m. on the first day of the search, 23 local guides began scanning the Pasar Agung Selat route. Four others conducted a search on the Pasar Agung Bebandem route.

"So, we divided the guide team into two SRUs, considering that there were no eyewitnesses who saw this foreigner when he was going to climb," Sidakarya said.

At 1:30 p.m., eight personnel from the Karangasem Basarnas Post came to the joint SAR post and joined the search. However, the first day of the search yielded no results.

On Friday morning, the Bali Basarnas finally found the victim's body and confirmed his identity.

"There was an open wound on his head, possibly from a hard impact on the rocks," Sidakarya said.

The team that found the body said the victim had his head down and feet up, therefore he is believed to have died from a fall.

The joint SAR team evacuated his body to the Pasar Agung Post from where it was taken to the Karangasem Regional Hospital at 1:40 p.m.