Kusnadi dies after 10 days in coma

JAKARTA (JP): Engkus Kusnadi, a student of Jakarta University in East Jakarta, died at 1:40 p.m. on Sunday after 10 days in a coma at St. Carolus Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Kusnadi's death raises the fatalities of Black Friday's shooting incident at Atma Jaya University in South Jakarta to 16.

Wisnu Affan, the assistant to the university's rector for student affairs, said Kusnadi's condition started to deteriorate drastically early Sunday morning.

"He was at a critical moment when his heart rate dropped suddenly. He never gained consciousness," Wisnu told The Jakarta Post.

He said Kusnadi would be buried in his parent's hometown in Sumedang, West Java, on Monday.

Kusnadi, 19, was a third-year student in the School of Architecture at Jakarta University. He joined Friday's rally at Atma Jaya University, where he was shot in the head.

According to Wisnu, fragments of metal from a bullet were extracted from his head hours after the shooting incident.

Kusnadi's body was sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for a postmortem examination.

He was the eighth student fatality of the Black Friday incident.

Wisnu said he would discuss the possibility of taking the military to court with relatives of the victims. (ivy)