Child Dies After Falling into Futsal Court Construction Hole in South Jakarta

A four-year-old boy, identified by the initial I, died after falling into a 3.7-metre-deep hole in Tebet, South Jakarta, and becoming trapped inside for approximately four hours. The hole was part of a futsal court construction project. “The information we received is that the plan was for a futsal court sports facility,” said Tebet Police Chief AKP Ischak when contacted on Tuesday (30/6/2026). It is not yet known exactly how long the hole had been there. The police are still investigating the case. “It is currently still under investigation. The case has been transferred to the South Jakarta Police Criminal Investigation Unit,” Ischak said when asked whether the owner of the futsal court project would be questioned.

The incident occurred on Saturday (27/6) at 11.40 p.m. Western Indonesia Time. The victim fell into the construction hole while playing with his friends. “The victim and his friends were playing around the project site. The victim fell into a project hole with a depth of approximately 3.5 to 4 metres and a diameter of approximately 30 by 30 centimetres,” Ischak said. The victim’s friends sought help from residents at the location. Police officers moved to the scene but encountered difficulties evacuating the victim. “Manual evacuation attempts were made by inserting small-bodied personnel into the hole to pull the victim out. These attempts were unsuccessful because the hole was narrow, the child who entered was traumatised, and there were no volunteers to enter the hole,” he explained.

Coordination was subsequently carried out with Tebet District Health Centre officers and fire brigade personnel to deploy heavy equipment. The large crowd of residents at the scene also hampered the evacuation process. “Two excavators were borrowed from the nearest location to the crime scene. Before digging, consolidation was carried out to create a safe path beside the hole to avoid landslides. Tebet Police also secured the area by installing a police line so that the public would not obstruct the process,” he said. “The crowd of residents watching temporarily hampered the evacuation process,” he added. The evacuation process lasted about four hours, and the victim was successfully evacuated at 3.55 a.m. Western Indonesia Time. After receiving treatment at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, the victim was pronounced dead. “The toddler victim’s condition could not be saved,” he stated.