Two foreign nationals died and another was injured after being hit by a large tree that fell at the Monkey Forest tourist attraction, Ubud, Gianyar Regency, Bali, on Tuesday, the 10th of December.
The two foreign nationals are known to be female, namely FJC (32) from France and KH (42) from South Korea. Meanwhile, the injured foreign national, with the initials LS (43), is also a woman from South Korea.
According to Bali Police Public Relations Chief Senior Commissioner Jansen Avitus Panjaitan, the incident occurred when the three foreign nationals were visiting the tourist attraction at around 12:25 PM local time. According to information gathered from the field, at the time, there was sudden heavy rain accompanied by strong winds at the location.
Not long after, the sound of a tree was heard as if it were about to fall. Several witnesses subsequently checked the source of the sound, and it turned out three trees had fallen. The three trees—the banyan tree, the pule tree, and the kresek tree—grew next to the Prajapati Temple at the Monkey Forest tourist attraction. Other visitors tried to help the victims who were struck by the trees.
The victims, FJC and KH, were rushed to the nearest hospital for medical treatment. However, their lives could not be saved and they were declared dead by local doctors.
“The victims who died or were injured are still being cared for and treated at the Kenak Medika Ubud Hospital while waiting for the results of coordination with Immigration [Office] and the victim’s family,” Panjaitan continued.
Regarding this incident, Panjaitan appealed to residents and tourists to remain vigilant and careful when travelling outside the home. Bali is currently being hit by heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. This bad weather often poses a high risk, especially in areas with many large trees growing on the side of the road.
“When it rains, it is better to avoid travelling from home [and] find a safe place [instead]. With this bad weather, people [should be] alert and careful,” he said.
Head of Emergency and Logistics of BPBD Gianyar, I Gusti Ngurah Dibya Presasta, said that his team has coordinated with the ambulance and other related parties to go to the Monkey Forest Ubud location to take handling steps. His team has also received some reports about weather-related disasters in other places.
“There are quite a lot of reports per day. Due to limited personnel, we are handling them in stages,” he remarked.