SAR Team Searching For Grandfather And Grandson Who Was Dragged By Citamiang Sukabumi River Current

The joint SAR team is conducting a search of the Citamiang River in Citamiang District, Sukabumi City, West Java to look for two victims of a river accident who are his grandfather and grandson on Thursday (14/7/2022) ANTARA/HO

SUKABUMI - A joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team was deployed to search for victims, namely grandfather and grandson, who were swept away by the current of the Citamiang River, Sukabumi City, West Java.

"We received information about a river accident in Citamiang District and immediately dispatched personnel to the location assisted by the SAR team from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) Sukabumi City, Sukabumi City Police, Citamiang Police for the TNI and other potential SAR volunteers," said the Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Sukabumi City, Imran Wardhani, reported by ANTARA, Thursday, July 14.

Information gathered from the BPBD, the river accident started with Fadlan Arbani (4) who was crossing a bridge around his house in Citamiang District, slipped and fell into the Citamiang River.

Omay (68), who is Fadlan's grandfather, saw his grandson fall into the river without further ado and immediately jumped into the Citamiang River to save him, which at that time was in a strong current.

But unfortunately for Omay, instead of saving the life of his grandson, he and Fadlan were dragged by the swift current of the Citamiang River. Local residents who saw the incident immediately contacted the BPBD and Citamiang Police and some looked for victims with makeshift tools.

"In this search, apart from tracing in the middle of the river, some teams also combed the riverbanks because and we believe the two victims can be found soon because the flow of this river is not too wide and deep," he added.

Imran said that his party was still seeking information from a number of witnesses regarding this river accident and appealed to the public not to move around the river for a while because it was known that the rainfall was quite high which triggered the river flow to become heavy and its volume to increase.