Elmi Febrianti had come to the Apparalang cliffs in Bulukumba regency with her family and walked out with a friend onto a wooden platform that juts over the sea, a spot prized for photographs. A wave hit the cliff edge and knocked her into the water at around 2:30 p.m. on June 7, the head of the Bulukumba disaster agency, Andi Hasbullah, told detikSulsel.
Footage filmed by other visitors and shared widely on Indonesian social media showed her waving for help and fighting the swell while onlookers on the cliff, unable to reach her in the heavy surf, could only watch.
A joint search team recovered her body around midnight after a nearly nine-hour operation, the agency told Kumparan. She was found floating about 1.5 kilometers from where she fell.
Her death drew a swift official response. Bulukumba police opened an inquiry into possible negligence by the site's operators, with the local criminal investigation chief, Andi Imran Hamid, saying officers would question witnesses and the operators and gather evidence, detikSulsel reported.
The police chief, Restu Wijayanto, said Apparalang had been closed and cordoned off both to prevent another death and to allow the investigation. The regional legislature summoned the operator, the tourism office and the national search and rescue agency to a hearing on June 9, its deputy speaker, Syahruni Haris, said.
