Teenager Who Climbed Tower in Bekasi Initially Refused to Come Down, Was Immediately Embraced by Firefighters

BEKASI – The rescue commander of A Company at the Bekasi City Fire and Rescue Service (Disdamkarmat), Hendrick, revealed that MRH (15) initially resisted being brought down from a GSM tower in the early hours of Saturday, 14 March 2026.

“There was resistance. Up there, he refused and objected, but I embraced him immediately. Thank God he agreed to come down,” Hendrick said when confirmed by Kompas.com on Sunday, 15 March 2026.

He explained that the tower’s age presented challenges for officers attempting to rescue MRH. The rescue operation was also hindered by minimal lighting at the incident location.

“Before the team arrived, residents only had torch lighting. After that, we assisted with torches and spotlights from the rescue vehicle,” he said.

To evacuate the victim, the Bekasi City Fire and Rescue Service deployed three teams from A Company to the scene. “Each team has five people. Five times three is 15 people, and including me, 16 people were deployed,” Hendrick said.

Besides personnel, the rescue team also mobilised several operational vehicles, including the Gajah Mada Triton unit equipped with rescue equipment and a Kijang vehicle as operational transport.

“This ensures we have safety handholds when going up or down, and ladder assistance,” Hendrick said.

He noted that rescuing someone from a tower was a first-time experience for his team. “But we have frequently done this for high-rise buildings. It is indeed part of rescue operations,” he said.

Previously, residents of Jalan H Silan RT 001 RW 001, Jatirasa village, Jatiasih district, Bekasi City, were alarmed by MRH’s actions of climbing a GSM tower approximately 20 metres high in the early hours of Saturday. The Bekasi City Fire and Rescue Service received reports from residents around 02:55 WIB and arrived at the location around 03:15 WIB. The persuasion and evacuation process took approximately 2.5 hours.

Heryanto stated that MRH was driven to climb the tower due to personal issues he was experiencing. “According to information from his parents, it was like that – a romantic matter. It was essentially a romantic issue,” Heryanto said.