Village Head Who Jumped Into North Sumatra's Lau Luhung River Found Dead

Personnel from the Class A Medan Search and Rescue office (Basarnas) evacuated a village head suspected of missing in the Lau Luhung River, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra. ANTARA/HO

MEDAN - Personnel from the Class A Medan Search and Rescue Office (Basarnas) evacuated a missing village head in Lau Luhung River, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra.

Head of Medan Class A Basarnas Hery Marantika said the 30-year-old victim named Bahagia Tarigan was found after a joint team conducted a search since Thursday (27/02).

"The village head's body has been found since yesterday afternoon, about 200 meters from the Lau Luhung bridge, which is the location where the victim allegedly jumped," said Hery Marantika, in Medan, Tuesday, March 4.

Hery said the search involving the relevant policy maker carried out a sweep along the riverbank and descended the cliff using the equipment needed.

Medan Basarnas personnel also conducted a search using a thermal drone starting from the location of the bridge to the downstream river, but the victim was not found.

"However, due to the difficulty of the terrain at the location and the high cliffs to reach the victims who were in the river, the evacuation process was resumed starting this morning," he said.

A joint team that descended the cliff with a depth of 80 meters and managed to find victims on the river surface on Monday (2/3) at 17.30 WIB.

The victim allegedly deliberately jumped from the Lau Luhung bridge with a height of about 200 meters.

"After the victim's body was successfully evacuated to the top, the victim was immediately taken to the funeral home using a double cabin car belonging to the Medan Basarnas, then the victim was handed over to the family witnessed by the Police and other agencies involved," he said.