11 Mts Students Killed, Tragedy Down The Cileueur River, Ciamis Is Being Investigated

Ciamis Police Chief AKBP Wahyu Broto Narsono at a press conference in Ciamis/ Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Ciamis Resort Police continues to investigate the incident of the death of 11 students of Mts Harapan Baru Ciamis who were carried away by the current of the Cileueur River, Cijeungjing District, Ciamis, during Scouting activities to determine whether or not there was an element of negligence.

"Whether it was initially negligence or how we are certain that we will be professional in carrying out this examination, we are also proportional," said Ciamis Police Chief AKBP Wahyu Broto Narsono during a press conference in Ciamis, Saturday, October 16.

He said the police had processed the crime scene which was used as the location for the Cileueur River crossing activity in Cijeungjing District, Friday, October 15.

The results of field checks, he said, the depth of the river when students crossed was only 70 cm, but at another point where students were found dead the depth was about 2 meters.

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The police have also examined four witnesses who were at the scene, while an examination of the school has not yet been carried out because they are still grieving.

"We have examined only four (people)," said the Police Chief.

He revealed that the results of the crime scene did not find any equipment or completeness of safety equipment to cross the river such as ropes and buoys.

The police chief regretted the incident, which could have been prevented so that there were no fatalities during activities along the river.

"We will explore why this could have happened, why this could not have been prevented at that time, where at that time there were several things that could have been prevented," he said.

He said that when they crossed the river, they only held hands, and the condition of the rocks in the river was slippery.

Regarding the negligence in Scouting activities, the Chief of Police said it was still being investigated, because basically no one expected the disaster to happen.

"Nobody expected this to happen, nobody expected this to happen whether it was initially negligence or what," he said.

Previously, 150 students of Mts Harapan Baru Ciamis participated in Scouting activities outside the school environment, one of which was along the river.

In that activity, it was reported that 21 students were swept away by the river current, 10 people survived and 11 people died.