Landslide kills two while digging trench
JAKARTA (JP): Two workers suffocated to death when dirt excavated for the installation of wastewater pipes collapsed and buried them in their trench on Jl. K.H. Mas Mansyur in Central Jakarta early yesterday.
The victims, identified as Riswanto, 22, and Sunarto, 36, were both migrant workers from Pekalongan in Central Java. Another worker, 21-year-old Kastro, was also buried during the same incident but managed to survive.
The three were employed by PT Bangun Setya Karya which has been contracted by PT Nindya Karya to carry out the installation of the city-owned wastewater company's pipe networks.
Kastro told Tanah Abang police officers that they had nearly finished part of the five-meter-deep trench at 4 a.m. after starting work at 8 p.m. Tuesday when suddenly the pile of excavated dirt collapsed onto them from both sides.
The three screamed for help but when there was no response, Riswanto, who was buried deeper than Kastro, started to push Kastro up to safety.
"I could feel my friend's hands pushing me up," he said.
"I was lucky because the dirt only covered half of my body and as soon as I was free, three other friends helped me," he said.
Sutrimo, 32, one of the three who helped Kastro, said that the landslide was followed by the fall of a nearby electricity pole, darkening the site.
"I only heard Kastro's scream for help," Sutrimo said.
"We still have another 200 meters to dig and now there are only four of us working here," Sutrimo said.
The workers, employed to dig a 700-meter trench for the installation of a wastewater pipe, were being paid Rp 13,000 (US$1.8) per day.
The incident, which took place in front of the Batavia Apartment project, was believed to have been caused by water seepage from a nearby ditch resulting in the landslide around the digging area, police said.
Tanah Abang Police Subprecinct deputy chief Capt. Haroen said that police had questioned at least four people.
"Two of them were the supervisors, identified as Saimin and Atim, while the other two were just eyewitnesses," he said.
Haroen expressed concern over the limited availability of safety equipment for the workers.
"It's not an easy task to dig in such hours without proper safety equipment," he said.
The victims were dug out of the hole by police and their fellow workers six hours after the landslide.
Riswanto and Sunarto's bodies were then rushed to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for post mortem examinations.
The hospital's forensic doctors were still waiting for their families to give permission for the examinations, a forensic staff said. (04)