House Hit by Flood, Student Swept Away in Buleleng, Bali
One person was swept away by floodwaters in Bakti Seraga Village, Buleleng Regency, Bali, on Friday (12/6). The victim, Ricardo Razaq Alghivieri (20), was a student. The Denpasar Search and Rescue Office received the information at 13.55 WITA.
“We received information about one person being swept away by the flood from Mr Waskita, with the incident estimated to have occurred around 12.30 WITA,” said Head of the Denpasar Search and Rescue Office, I Nyoman Sidakarya, on Friday afternoon.
The flood caused a strong current in the river behind the victim’s house, which struck his residence at Griya Mahadewa Block A4. Local residents conducted a search for the victim but were unsuccessful, after which the victim’s family reported the incident.
“We responded immediately by dispatching eight personnel from the Buleleng SAR Post to the location,” he added. The distance from the Buleleng SAR Post to the housing complex is quite far, taking approximately one and a half hours.
The victim was eventually found deceased by the joint SAR team on Friday afternoon. Kadek Donny Indrawan, Coordinator of the Buleleng SAR Post, explained that the initial search team was divided across several locations around the flood-affected area.
“We divided the team for the initial search and sweeping of the incident area,” said Kadek Donny in a written statement on Friday evening. A Search and Rescue Unit (SRU) then swept along the river flow, searching as far as the edge of Pengambengan Beach in Jembrana Regency, Bali. At 16.15 WITA, information was received that the victim had been found deceased.
“We received information that the victim was found under the rubble of the house. We then carried out a manual evacuation,” he stated. The evacuation process lasted until 17.12 WITA. The effort to recover the victim was conducted carefully due to the unstable condition of the building. After being successfully removed from the rubble, Ricardo Razaq Alghivieri’s body was transported to Buleleng Regional Hospital using a Buleleng PMI ambulance.