Four Alcatel workers die of drowning

Four Alcatel workers die of drowning

JAKARTA (JP): Four workers at PT Alcatel Cable, a French
telecommunications company, died and another was badly injured
after being submerged in a telephone cable duct in West Jakarta
yesterday afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Teddy Wahyudi, 18, from
Cirebon, West Java, Taufik Ismail, 20, from Kopeng, West Java,
Zainal Abidin and Mursadi, 32, both residents of Jl. Tebet Barat,
South Jakarta.

Their bodies were taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital's morgue for autopsies at around 3 p.m. yesterday.

The injured employee, identified by his co-workers as Naseh,
40, was said to be in critical condition at Husada hospital in
West Jakarta.

"Taufik had planned to marry this Sunday, but he's gone now,"
a gloomy co-worker told The Jakarta Post.

The management of PT Alcatel Cable refused to comment on the
incident.

The victims' co-workers said at the Cipto's morgue that the
incident occurred at 1:30 p.m. when a water pipe which passes
above the duct burst and submerged the victims.

The five had been busy installing telephone cables in a duct
two to three meters wide and 3.5 meters deep on Jl. Pinangsia
Raya, Tamansari district.

Pending the construction work, the water pipe was plugged by
the workers to prevent it from filling the duct.

The other workers and passers-by who noticed the incident
tried unsuccessfully to save the five, but succeeded in rescuing
one worker.

Several workers expressed regret over the lack of safety
facilities provided by the company.

Tamansari police have questioned three employees of the
company in connection with the incident.

PT Alcatel Cable is now installing telephone cables in West
Jakarta in cooperation with PT Elektrindo Nusantara, a private
Indonesian company. (jsk)