South Korean Tourist Missing After Snorkeling in Bali

A South Korean tourist who went snorkeling near an island in Bali, Indonesia, has been missing, and her family has been searching for her whereabouts for a month.

According to local media outlets such as The Bali Times on the 6th, 31-year-old South Korean woman A went missing on October 6 off the coast of Gili Trawangan Island near Lombok, Indonesia.

A was snorkeling with friends off the northern coast of the island, known as a popular sea turtle habitat, when she briefly separated from her group around 12:30 PM to look for sea turtles.

A witness reported seeing A swimming normally underwater or floating on the surface without any apparent difficulty.

However, when her group returned to the shore around 2:00 PM and could not find A, her companions and local residents conducted an initial search.

Local rescue teams and the Indonesian Coast Guard, having received a missing person report, launched an intensive search of the surrounding waters, conducting both surface and underwater searches starting the day after she went missing.

After searching for eight days using even drones without yielding any results, local authorities have suspended the official search.

A's family has posted a reward of approximately 3.75 million won on social media along with posters showing what A looked like at the time of her disappearance, seeking tips regarding her whereabouts.

The president of the Korean association assisting with the search efforts stated, "There are continuous currents in that part of the ocean, so if you just float, you naturally get carried out to sea," adding, "It is heartbreaking as similar accidents happen once or twice every year."

However, the exact circumstances of the disappearance, including whether A was actually swept away by currents, have not yet been confirmed.

Gili Trawangan Island is a well-known spot for snorkeling and diving, and is also widely recognized in South Korea as a filming location for television variety shows.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Kim Min-ji | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.