A travel influencer has drowned aged 24 after a swollen river swept away the pick-up truck she was travelling in during a dream holiday abroad.
Emma Marie Laurent was one of three young women who died when the vehicle was caught in powerful currents after heavy rainfall.
The French national, who shared her travel adventures online, died alongside Swiss tourist Noë Lina Luscher, 20, and Karen Nahomi López Montano, 19, from Nicaragua.
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The three women were passengers in a Toyota pick-up being driven through the community of El Manzano in the north-western department of Chinandega in Nicaragua.
According to reports, the river had risen following recent rainfall and its powerful current overwhelmed the vehicle as the group attempted to cross.
The driver, identified as Mexican national Martin Gerardo García Girón, got out of the vehicle to check the water level before the group attempted the crossing.
One report said the water reached his knees but the current swept the vehicle away and it overturned.
The driver survived but reports differ over whether he was the only person to escape.
One local report said two other French passengers, Roger Agustín Despouys Guillaume and Laurence Gillette Despouys Marie, also made it to safety.
The precise circumstances of the crossing are still under investigation.
Emma’s final social media post offered a glimpse of her outlook on life.
“I think the most beautiful people, inside and out, are those who know how to admire the world around them,” she wrote.
She went on to describe people who notice the sky changing colour before sunset, pause to watch rain against a window, and smile when they hear a stranger laughing.
Emma, who called herself “your barefoot BFF” in her bio, had nearly 43,000 Instagram followers at the time of her death.
The tragedy happened when the group attempted to cross the Nahualapa River in Nicaragua at around 1am on 9 October, as reported by Need To Know.
Nicaraguan co-president Rosario Murillo expressed condolences to the families and warned of the dangers posed by rivers during the rainy season.
She said: “Rivers are deceptive; one thinks they are calm and, suddenly, the current comes and we have tragedies like this that bring mourning to families.”
Murillo also urged visitors to pay attention to warnings and safety guidance, saying protecting lives must be the priority.
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