The 10-year-old Boy Who Fell In The Angke Serpong River Has Not Been Found

The SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC) evacuation team conducts a search at Kali Angke Serpong/ Photo: IST

JAKARTA - Head of the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC), Hendra Sudirman, deployed a joint rescue team to search for a child who had drowned in Angke Serpong River, South Tangerang, Banten.

The search has been ongoing since Sunday, October 24, yesterday. The joint SAR carried out SAR diving equipment to continue to search for the whereabouts of the victim with the initials PY (10).

"Basarnas and the joint SAR team are still searching the Angke Serpong River using the main search tool," Hendra told VOI, Monday, October 25.

The SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC) evacuation team conducts a search at Kali Angke Serpong/ Photo: IST

The search was divided into three evacuation teams. The first team was tasked with combing along the Angke Serpong River with rubber boats up to a radius of 4 kilometers.

The second team visually searched the land route along the outskirts of Kali Angke Serpong up to a radius of 2 KM.

"The third team is a diving team with a search radius of 10 meters. Victim PY slipped and fell into the river and drowned since Saturday, October 23, afternoon. To this day, the search is still ongoing," he said.

In an effort to search for victims, the joint SAR team often encounters problems with the large piles of garbage that cover the river area so that the movement of rubber boats is hampered.

"The joint SAR team must break down the garbage and search among the piles of garbage. Because it can be suspected that the victim was caught between the obstacles," he said.

Meanwhile, the current of the Angke Serpong River began to rush and visibility below the water surface also made the joint SAR team unable to carry out the dive process around the search area.

Sweeping was carried out to the corners of the Angke Serpong river/ PHOTO: IST

"We are still trying to find victims, although we encounter many obstacles in the field, we hope that the victims will be found soon," hoped Hendra.

Hundreds of combined SARs will optimize searches up to a 5 KM radius along the Angke Serpong river by using rubber boats.

The joint SAR personnel who participated in the search consisted of the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office, Serpong Police, South Tangerang BPBD, South Tangerang Damkar, South Tangerang Satpol PP, Karang Taruna 08, South Tangerang IEA, South Tangerang ACT and other SAR communities and local residents.