Playing In The Cisokan River Cianjur With Other Santri, A 14-year-old Boy Drowning Found Lifeless

Illustration of missing persons allegedly drowned. (Pixabay)

The joint SAR team found the body of a student named Solihin (14), a resident of Mekarjaya Village, Cianjur, who reportedly drowned while swimming in the Cisokan River along with dozens of other students.

Secretary of BPBD Cianjur Rudi Wibowo said the victim was reported missing and drowned on Sunday, July 16, after a number of his friends tried to help, but to no avail.

"Another student friend reported this to the village apparatus and continued to the Bandung BPBD and SAR which immediately went to the location to conduct a search," he said in Cianjur, West Java, Monday, July 17, which was confiscated by Antara.

In the early hours of Monday, July 17, the victim's body was found two kilometers from the location where it was first reported missing and drowned, after joint officers conducted river crossings and outskirts with residents and their families.

The victim's body was immediately handed over by a joint SAR team consisting of SAR Bandung, BPBD, TNI/Polri and residents to the family to be buried in their hometowns. "The victim's body was immediately handed over to the family for burial," he said.

Meanwhile, information from the residents of the previous dozens of students, including the victim, were washing clothes while swimming in the Cisokan River, the victim and another student swam too into the middle, so that the sudden swift current was carried away.

"Residents rushed to the location when they heard cries for help from the river, when we arrived at the riverside the victim's body disappeared and was carried away by a fairly strong current, so we reported the matter to the local police," said an eye witness to a local resident, Iwan Setiawan.

Throughout 2023, he said, it was recorded that three students had drowned in the Cisokan River, local residents had appealed to students and children not to swim, because the river currents were often heavy, especially after it rained one day earlier.

"River irrigation is often used as a place to wash clothes by residents, including students in Islamic boarding schools located not far from the river. Because often something similar happens, residents have warned children and students not to swim in the middle," he said.