Child dies after being trapped for four hours in Tebet project hole

A four-year-old boy, identified by the initial I, has died after being trapped for around four hours inside a borehole at a multifunctional field construction project in Manggarai, Tebet, South Jakarta. The victim was successfully evacuated alive but his life could not be saved during the journey to hospital. “The toddler victim could not be saved,” Tebet Police Chief AKP Ischak told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday. The child was declared alive during the evacuation process but did not survive upon reaching the hospital. Meanwhile, Kusnanto, Head of the Tebet Sector at the South Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat), added that his team assisted with the evacuation from the scene to the hospital. “My personnel carried out the evacuation, witnessed by local residents, and the child was still alive. He could not be saved during the journey to the hospital,” Kusnanto said. The cause of the child falling into the project hole remains under further investigation. In the early hours of Sunday, police received a report from residents about a child who had fallen into a project hole at Taman RW 04, Jalan Manggarai Utara II, Manggarai Urban Village, Tebet District. The incident occurred around 11.40 p.m. Western Indonesia Time, when the victim was playing with friends near the project area. The child fell into a hole approximately 3.5 to 4 metres deep with a diameter of around 30 by 30 centimetres. The victim’s friends then sought help from officers at the Manggarai Tactical Command Post, who subsequently alerted the Tebet Police duty function, which proceeded to the scene. In the initial stage, officers attempted a manual evacuation by inserting a small-bodied personnel member into the hole to pull the victim out. However, this effort proved unsuccessful due to the narrow size of the hole and the victim’s traumatised condition. Officers then coordinated with several relevant agencies, including the Fire and Rescue Service, Tebet Community Health Centre, Tebet Regional General Hospital, and brought in heavy equipment to assist the rescue operation. Two excavator units were deployed to dig carefully, first creating a safe path beside the hole to prevent landslides. Police also erected a police line around the location to secure the area and prevent crowds of residents from hindering the evacuation process. After a rescue operation lasting around four hours, the victim was finally evacuated at approximately 3.55 a.m. and immediately taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital for further medical treatment.