Inhaling Toxic Gas In A 12 Meter Well While Helping Colleagues Trapped, 2 Cilacap Residents Found Dead

Cilacap Basarnas personnel carried out an effort to evacuate two workers who were buried under the debris in a well in Bojongsari Village/Via ANTARA

CILACAP - The Cilacap Search and Rescue Office (KPP/Basarnas) managed to evacuate two workers who were reported to have been buried by debris in a well in Pasir Garu Hamlet RT 02 RW 05, Bojongsari Village, Cilacap Regency, Central Java.

"We succeeded in evacuating all of the victims who died early this morning," said Head of the Cilacap Basarnas Adah Sudarsa in a press release received in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Antara, Monday, August 1.

He said the two victims consisted of Darim (55) and Tusiman (40), residents of Talang Benteng Hamlet RT 14 RW 02, Sidaraayu Village, Purwadadi District, Ciamis Regency, West Java.

After being evacuated from the scene, he said, the bodies of Darim and Tusiman were immediately returned to the funeral home. The evacuation process for the two workers started with information from the picket officer of the Technical Implementation Unit (UPT) of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) for the Sidareja Region which was received by the Cilacap Basarnas on Sunday night.

According to him, the incident began when the two victims were draining the well using a machine.

One of the victims was found buried under the rubble of the ground while in the well, so his partner tried to provide help.

However, due to inhaling the poisonous gas released by the machine, the body in question became weak and finally buried in the well which reached a depth of 12 meters.

"After receiving information about the two workers buried in the well, we immediately dispatched a team from the Cilacap Basarnas to the location of the incident in Pasir Garu Hamlet RT 02 RW 05, Bojongsari Village, Kedungreja District, Cilacap," said Adah.

Meanwhile, Cilacap Basarnas Field Coordinator Fajar Wadji said the evacuation process for the two victims was carried out using a lowering system, namely by lowering one rescuer who had used an SCBA tube.

His party also uses a lifting system in the form of lifting a rescuer by bringing the victim's body from the well, including using a blower to suck up the toxic gas in the well.

"We pulled everything using the Z-Rig system assisted by a tripod. The first victim who was successfully evacuated, namely Darim (55), on Sunday (31/7) at 21.30 WIB, then Tusiman (40) on Monday (1/8) ), at 00.25 WIB," said Fajar.

Because all the victims had been successfully evacuated, he said, the SAR operation to help the two workers buried under the debris in the well was declared closed and all SAR potential involved were returned to their respective units.

The SAR operation involved personnel from the Cilacap Basarnas, UPT BPBD Sidareja Region, Kedungreja Police, Kedungreja Koramil, MDMC, RAPI, Cilacap Rescue, and assisted by local residents.