Victims Attacked By Crocodiles In East Kutai Found Dead

SAMARINDA - The Joint Search And Rescue (SAR) Team of East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan, found the victim dead, after being previously reported to have been struck by a crocodile while washing their hands in the river.

"The Joint SAR team managed to find the victim on behalf of Rlan Sukmana, a man, 46 years old, dead at a distance of 20 meters downstream from the scene, then the victim was evacuated to the Kaubun Health Center," said Head of Balikpapan City Basarnas Melkyanus Kotta as reported by ANTARA, Friday, August 18.

The chronology of the incident was on Thursday, August 17 at 21:10 WITA, the SAR Team received information from the Head of Bumi Jaya Village, Kaubun District, East Kutai Regency.

The information stated that on the same day at around 15.00 WITA, the victim on behalf of Elan Sukmana was still fishing with his friend, namely Ujang Rahmad, 50 years old, as well as being a witness in the incident.

Around that hour, the victim was about to eat so the victim had to go down to the river to wash his hands, but when washing his hands, the victim's feet were grabbed by a crocodile and dragged into the river.

The witness then shouted for help from the residents of Bumi Jaya Village. However, residents did not dare to comb the river to look for victims because the river was in a deep condition, so residents reported to the Head of Bumi Jaya Village Hari SelAMEt.

Selanjutnya Hari Selamet melaporkan kejadian ini ke Tim SAR setempat, sehingga pada pukul 21.25 WITA Tim SAR Gabungan bergerak ke lokasi kejadian dan melakukan pencarian hingga Jumat dini hari atau tanggal 18 Agustus, pukul 00.20 WITA.

The search then continued Friday morning at 07.00, then at 08.25 WITA, the joint team managed to find the victim dead.