SINGAPORE - A Singaporean student died on Wednesday (May 11) after falling 30m off a cliff in the Blue Mountains, Australia.

Ms Cheng Shi Min, 21, had lost her footing and slipped while trying to look over the edge of a waterfall, her boyfriend Henry Yendle told the Australian press. The couple were hiking with Ms Cheng's father when the accident happened at about 1.30pm on Tuesday.

"First I sort of just heard a scream and then a loud bang," said Mr Yendle.

The two men rushed to the foot of the waterfall where they found Ms Cheng, lying face-down in the waters of a popular swimming spot in Empress Falls.

Mr Yendle jumped into the freezing waters and spent about 20 minutes pulling Ms Cheng out. "We were lucky there were a few people nearby. I yelled for an ambulance," he said.

When the rescue crew arrived, they stabilised Ms Cheng's condition and placed her in a coma. Paramedics spent several hours treating her severe head and chest injuries, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A local rescue inspector said that the bad weather had hampered rescue efforts, with strong winds preventing a helicopter from landing near Ms Cheng.

Police, paramedics and the rescue team had to carry her on a stretcher for two hours to the top of the mountain on foot, he added.

At about 8pm, Ms Cheng arrived at Westmead Hospital, but she died from her injuries the next morning.

According to her Facebook page, she had visited the same waterfall in January this year on a solo hike, praising the spot's natural beauty.

Ms Cheng had previously attended CHIJ St Nicholas Primary and Secondary schools. She left Jurong Junior College to do her foundation studies at the University of New South Wales. When the accident occurred, she was a teaching student at Macquarie University.

Correction note: The story has been amended to reflect Ms Cheng Shi Min's correct age and the date she died.