Ngatijan's Grandfather Who Was Lost In The Boar River Was Finally Found But Not According To The Family's Expectations

The evacuation process of Grandpa Ngatijan from the Celeng River, Bantul Regency, DIY, by the Joint SAR Team. (Photo by Public Relations of the Bantul Basarnas)

JAKARTA - Ngatijan (71), a victim who was reported to have drifted in the Celeng River, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region on Wednesday (12/1) night was found dead by the joint Search and Rescue Team (SAR).

"The efforts of the Joint SAR Team have paid off. The victim on behalf of Ngatijan (71), a resident of Karangtengah Imogiri Bantul was found in the Opak River in the Potrobayan area, Pundong, Bantul," said Head of the Yogyakarta Basarnas Office L Wahyu Efendi in a press statement in Yogyakarta, Friday, January 13.

The victim was found at 2:45 pm in a floating condition about six kilometers from the scene. Grandpa Ngatijan was immediately evacuated by the Joint SAR Team to be taken to a safe location.

"The victim's family and village officials who arrived at the location of the discovery and saw the victim confirmed that the victim found in the Opak Potrobayan River was Ngatijan, a resident of Karangtengah Imogiri, Bantul," he said.

The victim was then taken to the funeral home while waiting for the Inafis team (Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint System) from the Bantul Resort Police (Polres).

The search operation for Grandpa Ngatijan started at 06.00 WIB by combing from the scene of the incident using the body rafting method to a distance of 2.3 kilometers to the south.

As of 12.00 WIB, the victim had not been found, so the search was continued at 13.00 WIB by forming four SRU (search and rescue) to conduct a sweep from the scene of the incident to the Dongongan bridge as far as 1.2 km.

"With the discovery of the drowned victim in the Celeng River, the SAR operation is declared closed and all the Joint SAR elements involved are returned to their respective units," he said.

Public Relations of the Yogyakarta Basarnas, Pipit Eriyanto, said that at first Grandpa Ngatijan and three of his friends were looking for firewood on Wednesday (12/1) night on the Bog River.

"At that time the victim was looking for firewood using a pole, then the three friends left the victim alone on the river bed, but when the second witness returned to look at the river at 20.20 WIB, the victim was not at the location," he said.