After Eight Days of Searching, 24 Victims Drowned Following Bridge Collapse in Wamena Have Been Evacuated

Wamena, VIVA - A total of 24 victims who drowned in the Uwe River in Wamena have been evacuated. This was revealed by the Jayawijaya Police, Papua Pegunungan.

The 24 victims who were successfully evacuated by the joint team from the Jayawijaya Police, Kodim 1702/Jayawijaya and the Wamena Search and Rescue Post are victims of the collapse of the Wouma suspension bridge, which triggered inter-tribal conflict in the capital of Jayawijaya Regency.

The Chief of the Jayawijaya Police, Senior Commissioner Anak Agung Made Satriya Bimantara in Wamena, Sunday, said that search efforts had been carried out together with a joint team from Kodim 1702/Jayawijaya and the Wamena Search and Rescue Post until now.

“As a result of our search with the joint team since the collapse of the Wouma suspension bridge on the first day until today, we have found approximately 24 victims,” he said on Sunday, May 17, 2026.

The joint team is now focusing on searching for victims of the collapse of the Wouma suspension bridge since the afternoon of May 7, 2026, until now in order to reduce existing tensions.

“To be honest, up to this moment we have not received accurate data on how many victims fell as a result of the collapse of the Wouma suspension bridge. There is information that there were 7, 20, 33 and 38 victims from the Wouma suspension bridge, but all the information is still unclear,” he said.

He explained that even there was information from the community saying that a victim named so-and-so had died, but after checking again, the victim was still alive.

“However, we continue to make efforts to search in order to reduce the tension (emotions) of the victims’ families. The search was carried out for eight days before the inter-tribal conflict occurred in Wamena,” he said.

He said that three points are the focus of the search, namely from the collapsed suspension bridge to the Wouma Bridge area at the estuary or behind the Wamena Airport and Yikuba.

“In total, 24 bodies or victims have been found today. And we continue to carry out search efforts together with the joint team from Kodim and Basarnas,” he said. (Ant)