Police: Three Climbers Killed On Mount Bawakaraeng, South Sulawesi, One Person Still Wanted

MAKASSAR - Resort Police (Polres) Gowa, South Sulawesi (South Sulawesi) put the number of climbers who died on Mount Bawakaraeng as many as three people.

"Yes, three people have died. One victim, Rian's name, is still being sought by the rescue team," said Head of the Tinggimoncong Gowa Police, Iptu Hasan, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, August 18.

The three victims were Steven (21) PNUP student, Zainal Abidin (21) UIN Alauddin student, and Rian (20) whose bodies are still being searched for by the joint SAR team.

Hasan explained, based on the information obtained, the chronology of the incident was that the group of eight people departed from Sungguminasa, Gowa to Mount Bawakaraeng on Saturday, August 14. When they arrived at the Bulubalea Post at night, they were intercepted by officers.

However, because the number of visitors reached 400 people, it was not balanced with the number of security, so that the guard post there was successfully broken into by visitors who were going up to the top of the route.

Next, on August 15, they departed for the summit of Mount Bawakaraeng to prepare for the red and white flag-raising ceremony on the anniversary of independence on Tuesday, August 17.

They also had time to spend the night at Post 8, because the storm hit. After that, the next day August 16, just returned to the top. But not long at the top, they went back down because of a storm over the local mountain peak and supplies of logistics were running low and there was a shortage of lighting.

"So, between Posts 8 and 7 there, they have started to separate. Steven's victim was found by another climber at Post 7 and informed Basarnas there was a body lying on the road (path), then evacuated at Post 7," he explained.

Furthermore, at the post between 5 and 6, another victim on behalf of Rian is estimated to have died at 06.00 WITA. Initially, Rian's colleagues, named Wahyudi and Suardi, the three of them had survived at that location at dawn.

However, in the morning, Rian was thought to have died, so his partner decided to leave the victim to seek help and put him on rocks and trees while he was covered with a black jacket for easy marking.

After reporting the incident, the SAR team then combed the scene, aiming to retrieve Rian's body. However, it was not Rian who was found, but another victim named Zainal Abidin lying on the side of the road around Pos 6 approaching Pos 5.

"His friend who also showed the location did not clearly see whether it was Rian or Zainal. After sending a photo by his family, it turned out that it was not Rian," he said.

To make sure it was not Rian's body, when he arrived at the Tinggimoncong Health Center, the body bag was opened to see directly, it was true that it was not Rian's figure but Zainal.

"So Rian's victim is being searched for, combed with a team of volunteers, but they haven't been found yet, they're afraid they'll get hit by a storm or fall into a ravine. So far, there's been no further developments," Tri said.