Five students injured in Makassar campus brawl
Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
The situation in Hasanuddin University campus was still tense following a student brawl on Monday that left five seriously injured.
Around 30 local police personnel were deployed to enhance security in the campus following a demonstration held by the technology faculty after the incident.
During the demonstration, students whose friends were injured in the brawl threatened to take revenge unless the university management took action against two students of the faculty of mathematics and physics who along with other students instigated the brawl.
The victims, identified as Suardi, Rahmat Hidayat, Ridwan, M Irdah and Ridwan were still undergoing treatment at Dr. Wahidin Soedirahusodo General Hospital in the city.
A number of facilities at the two faculties were also damaged.
According to eyewitnesses, the brawl was triggered by a trading of words between new students of the two faculties after the ceremony to mark the admission of new students at the campus on Sunday evening.
During the brawl that ensued, a building at the faculty of mathematics and physics was burned and, later, its students in retaliation attacked the school of technology.
Following the attack, the two student groups pelted stones at each other.
Security personnel also seized a number of Molotov cocktails, machetes and spears from the two schools.
The brawl stopped early in the morning on Monday after the local police deployed a score of security personnel.
"The situation is under control but around 30 personnel are still staying on alert in case further fighting breaks out between the two conflicting student groups," Sr. Comr. Amin Saleh, chief of Makassar Police, told The Jakarta Post.
He said the local police were still seeking the two students who were suspected of being behind the brawl.
He declined to identify the two suspects.
University rector Prof. Radi A. Gany regretted the incident, saying the local police were expected to be able to investigate the case thoroughly.
He said that despite the tense situation, classes would continue. Lecturers were asked to help calm down the students.