Trapped After Raising The Red And White On Mount Amonggedo, Southeast Sulawesi, Basarnas Successfully Evacuated 36 Students

Basarnas succeeded in evacuating dozens of students trapped on Mount Konawe this morning (ANTARA/HO)

SULTRA - The Kendari Basarnas joint team managed to evacuate dozens of students who were trapped after raising the Red and White at Mount Amonggedo, Ulu Benua Village, Amonggedo District, Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra).

Head of Basarnas Kendari Aris Sofingi said the victims were evacuated when they were about to pass through the second river at around 01.21 WITA.

"At 01.21 WITA, the victim was found when he was about to cross the second river, where current conditions allowed him to pass," said Aris in Kendari, Antara, Wednesday, August 18.

Previously, Basarnas Kendari said that around 30 students who loved nature were trapped on Mount Amonggedo when they returned after raising the Red and White.

However, after being evacuated and collecting data, the number of victims recorded was 36 people. They are the Sampara Nature Lovers Community (Kompas), most of which are students.

"All 36 victims were successfully evacuated and arrived at the Ulubenua dam post safe," he said.

The Kendari Basarnas team was previously in the Amonggedo area at 21.50 WITA and coordinated with the involved elements, namely the Wawotobi Koramil, Pondidaha Police, Konawe BPBD, Sampara Nature Lovers Compass KPA and the local community to assess the evacuation route.

After conducting an assessment of the location until 00:06 WITA, the joint SAR Team decided that the pick-up was carried out this Wednesday morning at around 06.00 WITA considering the condition of the evacuation route that did not allow forcing through three rivers.

However, because the victims had tried to return and were about to pass through the second river, the joint SAR team then moved quickly to help the nature lovers.

The victims were reported to have been at the location since August 16, 2021 to carry out the raising of the flag on August 17, 2021. However, after raising and lowering the flag, the students were unable to return home due to high rainfall so that the river overflowed with heavy currents.

"The evacuation of the victims was successful in a safe condition, so the SAR operation was declared complete and closed, all elements involved in the field were returned to their respective units," said Aris Sofingi.