Learning to drive ends in disaster as car sinks into an uncovered drain in East Jakarta

One vehicle plunged into an uncovered water channel along Jalan Pengayoman, Utan Kayu Utara urban village, Matraman District, East Jakarta. The car went into the drain while being used by the owner’s child to learn to drive. ‘The object evacuated is one unit of a vehicle belonging to Mr Eben which had sunk into the water channel,’ said Abdul Wahid, Head of Operational Section of the East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Sub-Agency (Gulkarmat), as quoted by Antara on Saturday (7 March 2026).

The incident occurred on Friday (6 March) at around 23:02 WIB. The owner reported the incident to the Fire Department. The incident began when the owner’s child was learning to drive at the location. However, the driver did not realise that on the right side of the road there was a drainage channel without a cover, causing the vehicle to plunge into the drain. ‘So when Mr Eben’s son was learning to drive, he did not know that there was an uncovered drain on the right side of the road,’ he added.

Gulkarmat Jakarta Timur officials immediately deployed two rescue vehicles. The first unit departed at 23:03 WIB and the second followed at 23:07 WIB. The evacuation took less than half an hour. ‘The evacuation was completed at 23:27 WIB and the vehicle was successfully lifted back onto the roadway,’ Abdul said.

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