French Woman Missing in Greece Sent Distress Text

A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)
A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)
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French Woman Missing in Greece Sent Distress Text

A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)
A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)

A 73-year-old French woman missing on the Greek island of Sikinos since Friday sent a distress message to her hotel before disappearing, the owner said.

A search is under way for the woman, who has not been named by authorities. She is one of three tourists missing in Greece, and five have died this month in unseasonably hot weather.

Ilias Gavanas, who owns the guest house where the woman was staying, told Reuters he last heard from her on Friday when he reached her by phone around 8:30 a.m. after missing a call from her at 5:50 a.m.

He said the woman had sent him a selfie and a message saying: "I am fall". He replied in French and English asking for her location and telling her to call the European emergency number 112, and alerted police and municipal authorities.

Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) across Greece earlier this month.

Hiking is popular with tourists on Sikinos, a largely barren and sparsely populated island in the southern Aegean Sea, Gavanas said.

"We warn them not to go out in the heat, to always inform us where they are, to not wander off alone," he said. "It was 40 degrees."

The tourism ministry said it "remained vigilant" and was working with other ministries to ensure travellers were being kept informed.

A second French woman is missing on Sikinos, and authorities believe the two missing women went hiking together although they were not staying at the same hotel, police said.

A search is under way on the island of Amorgos for an American man missing since June 11.

The five tourists who have died included British TV presenter Michael Mosley, whose body was found on the island of Symi. A 55-year-old American died on the Ionian island of Mathraki, a 74-year-old Dutch tourist died on the island of Samos and two hikers died on Crete.



Concern as Orangutan Seen Roaming Indonesia Coal Site

This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
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Concern as Orangutan Seen Roaming Indonesia Coal Site

This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)

Footage of a seemingly confused orangutan roaming the desolate site of an Indonesian coal mine, meters from excavators, has sparked renewed concern about the future of the critically endangered species.

The images, taken last month by a local resident and verified by AFP, are from the same province on Borneo island where Indonesia is building its new capital, a project environmentalists fear will endanger animal habitats in Asia's last great rainforest.

Indonesia has one of the world's highest deforestation rates, with commodities mining a key driver, but it is also one of only two places in the world where orangutans are still found, along with Malaysia.

The footage, which went viral on Indonesian social media, shows the male orangutan roaming across a chasm of sand streaked with white and black rocks, dug into land still surrounded by vegetation.

"Humans are sometimes too greedy. I hope God won't punish us," read one comment on the video, which racked up tens of thousands of views across YouTube and TikTok.

Locals standing on a bluff overlooking the site filmed the creature as it meandered metres from a digger that was seemingly oblivious to its presence.

Ahmad Baihaqi, who filmed the images, said a group of locals had been watching activity at the mine site when they spotted the primate.

"I felt bad because he looked so confused," the 22-year-old driver told AFP.

"He was alone and looked lost, he didn't know where to go because the forest was disappearing."

The sighting took place in East Kalimantan, where Indonesia is building its multi-billion-dollar capital city Nusantara at breakneck speed.

- Habitat disturbed -

Although the coal mine is a nine-hour drive from the construction site, the images renewed doubts about government claims that economic activity in the province is not affecting endangered animals.

Local environmentalist Mappaselle of the Balikpapan Coastal Working Group, who like many Indonesians uses one name, said the footage was clear evidence of that impact.

The orangutan sighting "was definitely because their habitat has been disturbed and is getting smaller," he said.

"Our endangered wildlife could go extinct," he warned.

"It's a natural wealth from God to us on Earth. If wildlife goes extinct, humans have failed in our job to protect nature."

All three species of orangutan are considered critically endangered, though estimates of the number left in the wild vary considerably.

Ari Wibawanto, head of the local conservation agency which sits under Indonesia's environment ministry, told AFP its officials had located the 15-year-old wild orangutan and moved it to a protected forest area after the footage surfaced.

But he argued that it was natural for male orangutans to roam around.