Body of unidentified foreign tourist found under cliff of temple in Bali

The body of an unidentified tourist was found at the base of a cliff in Bali, Indonesia.

The corpse was believed to belong to a foreign national and was spotted by a passer-by washed ashore near the cliff of the Uluwatu Temple in the Badung Regency on August 29.

I Nyoman Sidakarya, Head of the Denpasar Search and Rescue Office (Basarnas Bali), said: 'Basarnas received information from Balawista that there were eyewitnesses who saw from the top of the cliff that a body was stranded near the beach.

'The victim had been dragged by the current for approximately 33 feet (10 metres) from the cliff wall. Personnel quickly collected the body so that it is not carried into the sea.'

Rescue volunteers used a pulley to winch the corpse up the cliff 300ft (90 metres) above sea level.

The dead tourist was taken to the Prof. Dr. I.G.N.G. Ngoerah General Hospital on an ambulance.

The identity of the deceased was still being investigated.

Indonesian authorities had previously urged tourists to bring local guides when hiking after French teenager Thomas Stein, 14, fell down a mountainside also in Bali on August 25.

The youngster was trekking with his father and brother when he tumbled down the side of the steep trail on Mount Batukaru in the Tabanan Regency.

Rescuers were searching for his body.

Indonesia and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are in their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon leading to widespread flash floods.