Witnesses Describe Student Killed by Commuter Train While Filming Coursework

A 23-year-old student identified by the initials MF was killed after being struck by a commuter train (KRL) in Ciputat, South Tangerang, Banten, while making a video for a university assignment. Residents said they saw part of the camera he had been using to film content broken off at the scene.

A local resident, Uus, 55, said the incident happened at about 6.30pm, after the Maghrib prayer. He saw a broken camera component and a hat at the point where the student was first struck.

“There was a camera, or a broken camera part that had fallen there. It was like one of those long cameras with a head that can be turned. It had fallen there, along with a hat. I looked over,” Uus said at the scene in Ciputat on Sunday (11 October 2026).

The student was dragged about 200 metres from the point where he was struck. Uus said children returning from Quran lessons told him about the accident.

Uus runs a food stall near the scene. Police arrived after the incident.

“There was only a hat and the camera head there. I asked, ‘Where is the person?’ He had got caught and been carried further along. Then, about five minutes later, the train stopped. The deceased had fallen there,” he said.

Uus said MF and his friends had been at the site since Wednesday (7 October) to film their coursework. The student was struck by the commuter train on Thursday (8 October).

At the time, MF was standing near the tracks on the line towards Jakarta. Children nearby reportedly warned him shortly before the incident.

“He was filming. Trains often pass here, either heading to Serpong or to Jakarta. He was filming a train coming from Jakarta, from Sudimara, I think,” Uus said.

“Then a train came from Serpong. The little children had already told him, ‘Brother, there’s a train, there’s a train.’ He didn’t hear them, and it hit him before he could move,” he added.

Muhyiddin Fanda, head of public relations at Pamulang University, confirmed that MF was a student working on a university assignment. MF was in the fifth semester of the Communications Studies programme.

“He was in his fifth semester. It wasn’t a final project, just a regular course assignment. It was a group assignment for one of his subjects,” Muhyiddin said.

Muhyiddin said MF and his classmates were making a video for the assignment. The university expressed its condolences over his death.

“The deceased was indeed working on a video production assignment for one of his courses, which was being done as a group,” he said.

Police had earlier said the accident occurred on Thursday (8 October). They seized a mobile phone and digital camera believed to have been used by MF to make the video for his coursework.

“According to witnesses, he was creating content for a university assignment. While doing so, he was struck by a train passing where he and the witnesses were,” Ciputat Timur Police chief Commissioner Bambang Askar Sodiq said in a statement on Friday (9 October 2026).

After being struck by the train, MF was dragged about 200 metres. He was found dead, lying on his back on the tracks.

Officers evacuated the body. Police are investigating the case, including by examining the scene and questioning witnesses.

“At around 7pm, officers from Ciputat Timur Police arrived at the scene and examined it. They then contacted the identification unit of the South Tangerang Police,” he said.