Hong Kong - A Hong Kong tourist who died after she fell into an active volcano in Africa had ignored warnings about getting too close, a news report said Sunday. The woman, who has been identified as 33-year-old Cecilia Cheng Siu-yan, climbed down about 15 metres into the crater in order take photographs of the molten lava lake on Friday afternoon, said the Sunday Morning Post.
She fell more than 200 metres onto a ledge of the Nyiragongo volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is believed to have died instantly.
A rescue operation by a UN team was mounted but intense heat, gas and the unstable walls of the volcano hampered the effort.
According to the report in the Post, Cheng's body was eventually located around 5:50 pm Saturday, but was left on a ledge until Sunday after rescuers were forced to suspend the operation because it was getting dark.
French volcano expert Jacques Durieux was quoted as saying walking on the volcano was not normally dangerous but local guides travelling with Cheng said she had ignored warnings about going alone and without equipment such as ropes.
"She tried by herself without knowledge and without equipment to go down into the crater. They told her not to do so, but she didn't listen to them. That is a terrible mistake," he said.
Cheng is believed to have been travelling alone. A spokesman for the Immigration Department in Hong Kong said it had contacted her family in Hong Kong and offered to provide any assistance needed.
