Australian woman and partner killed in Bali landslide
The Australian-born woman and her partner were killed on the popular tourist island Thursday when a mudslide crushed their villa.
An Australian woman killed in a Bali landslide has been identified as 47-year-old Melbourne woman Angelina Smith.
Smith was believed to have been asleep in her Villa in the village of Jatiluwih, 50 kilometres north of Denpasar, at about 6am local time Thursday when heavy rain and strong winds saw a mudslide tear through the region. Smith and her 50-year-old partner Luciano Kross, originally from The Netherlands, were both killed during the incident on the popular holiday island.
Police say the couple were identified after authorities went to inspect the area following the extreme weather event, the Nine newspapers reported, with Smith having posted a video from the villas to her Instagram account the previous afternoon, noting the strong winds.
Couple found in bed among debris
In the post Smith reportedly said the couple were on a mountain getaway. Indonesian police were told the couple went inside the villa, a distance from the village’s residential area, at 8pm on Wednesday after reportedly rejecting a suggestion from a local to stay somewhere else until weather conditions calmed.
Water canals that sat above the villa – designed for irrigation – were eroded by the severe rain and triggered the fatal landslide, local disaster mitigation agency official I Nyoman Srinadha Giri said.
"The victims were evacuated from the debris while in sleeping (positions)," he told AFP. "There were two victims, a man and a woman in one bed."
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday night said it was providing consular assistance to the family of the dead woman. "We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time," a department spokeswoman said.
Extreme weather common in Indonesia
Landslides, flooding and fallen trees are common hazards in parts of Indonesia during heavy rainfall. The tragic incident comes as intense rain on Sumatra Island last week caused landslides and floods, killing at least 27 people.
Jatiluwih is located north of the island's capital Denpasar, and is known for its picturesque rice terraces.
Smith is understood to have been a permanent resident of the United States but spent a lot of time in Indonesia. She grew up in Melbourne and was spiritual healer, The Age reported. Smith ran an online and months-long “Blue Lotus Apprenticeship” that offered guided meditation, mystic healing and "deep embodied mystic lotus wisdom transmissions".
She was in Byron Bay, in the NSW Northern Rivers, as recently as December.
with AAP, NCA Newswire
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