Learning to drive: car sinks into a water drainage channel in Matraman

Jakarta — A car plunged into a water drainage channel on Jalan Pengayoman, RT 01/RW 08, Utan Kayu Utara Urban Village, Matraman District, East Jakarta, while the owner’s child was learning to drive on Friday night (6 March).

‘The object recovered is one unit of a car owned by Mr Eben that had sunk into the drainage channel,’ said Abdul Wahid, Head of Operations at the East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat), when contacted in Jakarta on Saturday.

Abdul said the agency received the incident report at 23:02 WIB from a resident named Eben, who is the father of the driving learner.

According to the chronology received by officers, the incident began when the owner’s child was practising driving at the location. However, the driver did not realise that on the right side of the road there was an uncovered drainage channel. As a result, the vehicle veered off and its wheels entered the drain, eventually plunging in.

Upon receiving the report, two rescue units from East Jakarta Gulkarmat were deployed. The first unit left at 23:03 WIB and the second followed at 23:07 WIB.

The evacuation proceeded from around 23:15 WIB. Officers used lifting equipment to pull the vehicle out of the drain and back onto the roadway.

‘The evacuation was completed at 23:27 WIB and the vehicle was raised back onto the road surface,’ Abdul stated.

There were no fatalities or injuries in the incident. After the operation, the situation at the scene was reported as safe and under control.

Abdul urged the public to exercise greater caution while driving, particularly for novice drivers who are still learning. He also asked residents to pay attention to road conditions around their neighbourhood, including uncovered drainage channels, to prevent similar incidents from occurring.