Lost In The Forest Of West Sumatra, Paragliding Pilot Found Weak, Hasn't Eaten For 24 Hours

Illustration of a paraglider pilot. (Between)

JAKARTA - Galih Gani Irawan (16), a paragliding pilot who went missing in the Green Lawang forest area in West Sumatra (West Sumatra) was found safe on Saturday 7 May, around 12.30 WIB. Galih has been missing since Friday 6 May.

The paragliding pilot from Pakanbaru, Riau was found by a joint team from the Agam Regency Government. Matur Police Chief Iptu Yance Mardi said the victim was found in a weak condition due to not getting food for 24 hours.

"The location is also raining and the temperature is quite cold in the area," he said in Lubukbasung, Sunday, May 8.

He said the victims were immediately evacuated by a joint team consisting of the Agam Police, Agam BPBD, Fifty City Basarnas, Dandim 0304 Agam, PMI and others.

A resident of the Rajawali 5 Complex Number 104 Air Base, Roesmin Rojadin Air Force, Pekanbaru City, Riau Province, was immediately taken to the Matur Health Center for treatment.

"The victim was immediately taken to the Matur Health Center for treatment," he said.

He said the victim was found within four kilometers of Puncak Lawang or the take-off location. Search for victims by checking the GPS position of the victim's cellphone.

From the results of the inspection, it was known that the athlete's position was in the forest area of Jorong Sari Bulan, Nagari Tigo Balai, Matur District, Agam, or north of Puncak Lawang.

After the search was carried out, on Friday night until around 00.00 WIB or in the early morning Galih had not been found, so the joint SAR Team decided to temporarily stop the search process, due to heavy rain and foggy weather. "The next search will be carried out today," he said, as quoted by Antara.

The initial assumption was that the incident was caused by the rapid change in weather after the victim took off from Puncak Lawang Matur, so that he lost his balance to land again.

The paragliding athlete who already has a PL 1 SIM flight certificate lost control starting on Friday, May 6 at around 11.00 WIB, the victim took off from the Puncak Lawang Tourism Object location with the aim of landing the Maninjau Lake Tourism Object.

After taking off, at around 11.45 WIB, the weather suddenly changed drastically with the arrival of strong winds and fog, so that Galih's parachute was carried away by the wind and could not be controlled to land again.

At 11.50 WIB, he added, Galih had time to communicate with his friends through the handy talky or HT he brought.

“During communication, Galih said that he had made a safe landing but his parachute got stuck in a tree in the forest. At that time he also did not know where the position or point he made the landing was because he was not a local resident," he said.