Jakarta: A 26-year-old Australian woman on holiday in Bali has been found dead after the motor scooter she was riding crashed.
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Ella Knights, from the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, was riding in the popular beachside village of Canggu on Wednesday night when police believe she lost control of the scooter.
Traffic accident unit chief with Badung police, Made Sujana, said the scooter was heading west, right before a corner heading north.
"Because of the speed of the scooter she lost control and was dragged to the right and fell to the gutter," Mr Made said.
She was found in the gutter in the early hours of Thursday morning and rushed to Canggu Medical Clinic about 3am.
"The doctor announced her dead on arrival," a staff member at the clinic said. It is understood no one else was involved in the accident.
Ms Knights, a marketing representative for yoghurt company Chobani, had been on holidays in India and Indonesia for several weeks and was due to return home on May 1.
She had posted photographs to social media of yoga, swimming, reading and food - and, a week ago, her and a friend laughing and riding a motorbike.
"It's such a paradise, we are having a wonderful time!" she wrote.
About 10am on Wednesday she was last seen at Rinaya Canggu, the hotel where she was staying, when she rented a scooter.
Authorities do not yet know how Ms Knights died.
The forensic doctor at Sanglah morgue, Ida Bagus Putu Alit, said she died about 10pm on Wednesday and had cuts and bruises, but they were not major.
"We do not have the cause of death until we can conduct a full autopsy," Dr Ida said.
He said police had requested an autopsy but they were yet to receive approval from the family.
A spokeswoman said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was providing consular assistance, in accordance with the Consular services charter, to the family of an Australian woman who died in Bali on 27 April 2017.
"Due to privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further information," she said.
Ms Knights used to work for The Australian Financial Review, owned by Fairfax Media, and for the magazine Australian Women's Weekly, selling advertising for both titles.
She had studied psychology and personal training, was a volunteer for crisis hotline Lifeline for two years, and became a certified yoga teacher two weeks ago.
On Thursday, friends began to write tributes to the former Hunter School of Performing Arts student.
"Rest in peace beautiful," one friend wrote on Ms Knights' last picture, of her grinning on a beach at Nusa Dua in Bali's south.
"So, so heartbreaking," another friend said.
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