PALMOILMAGAZINE, SOUTH PESISIR– In a tragic incident on Thursday, May 8, 2024, two smallholders from South Pesisir, West Sumatra Province, went missing after their boat capsized in the strong currents of the Lunang River. The victims, identified as Ujang (25) from Mukomuko Regency and Dani (21) from Lunang II, lost their lives in the unfortunate accident.
Defri Siswandi, the Head of the Emergency Disaster Management Agency in South Pesisir, recounted that the two individuals were crossing the river using their boat, holding onto a rope for support. However, as they made their way to the other side, the rope snapped, causing the boat to overturn and the occupants to drown in the river. Although a friend witnessed the incident, they were unable to intervene.
“The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. Ujang from Mukomuko Regency and Dani from Lunang II were unable to swim, and the water level was elevated due to rainfall at the time,” Defri stated, as Palmoilmagazine.com quoted from detik.com, Saturday (11/5/2024).
Until now the Search and Rescue (SAR) and the other team are still searching for them. SAR Coordinator Team of South Pesisir, Riko Likardo said that the victims were not found still even though after the accident they searched for them.
“We are still searching for them from the upstream to downstream sector of the river. We hope to immediately find them,” Riko said.
They would search every inch of the river but found nothing. Everyone hoped that the victims would be found and delivered the helps needed. (T2)
