Deputy Defence Minister Reveals Causes of Death for Five Kopdes Manager Candidates: Lifestyle Changes and Barracks Life

Deputy Defence Minister Donny Ermawan has disclosed the causes of death for five prospective managers of the Koperasi Desa Merah Putih (KDMP) who died whilst attending basic military training. Based on monitoring results, he stated that the causes of death for the five participants varied. The first was death due to exhaustion and a drastically altered lifestyle. “From what was perhaps civilian life, entering life in the barracks and so on, where everything must be disciplined,” Donny told reporters at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, 1 July 2026. Donny mentioned that hot weather conditions also contributed to the decline in the participants’ health. Additionally, some participants died due to pre-existing medical conditions. He stated that all participants had previously passed a health screening process and were within safe limits to join the basic military training. “Now, this is what caused some of them, not all, actually many were also in poor health,” said Donny. “But it was only these few, perhaps because of certain cases, the incidents mentioned earlier, maybe the weather and so on. So that it caused those with already limited conditions to eventually pass away,” he added. Donny noted that of the five participants who died, two died due to lung disorders, whilst the other three died due to heart problems. “The lung cases were all in Jakarta, at Satik, in Halim. But the others in Batu Raja, in Balikpapan, and in Singkawang were related to heart disease,” he concluded.