Young gardener dies in early morning swim

JAKARTA (JP): It was about 5 a.m. in the morning. The weather was cold. Mist still hovered over the small lake next to Pulau Dua restaurant in Taman Ria Senayan amusement complex in Central Jakarta.

Some of the 15 gardeners working in the restaurant's grounds who sleep in a six meter by eight meter shelter beneath the restaurant were awake and were ready to start their daily chores.

But Kamto, 20, who began working for the restaurant just two months ago, had his own itinerary for the early hours.

According to Suwarno, another gardener in the complex, two weeks earlier Kamto had asked him to teach him how to swim in the lake.

Suwarno gave Kamto one lesson in the lake, which during the day is used by visitors to row rented boats. Swimming is officially prohibited.

Early Tuesday morning, Kamto, who hailed from Slogoimo area of Wonogiri, Central Java, went into the lake without telling Suwarno.

"At 5.30 a.m, I went down to the two-meter-deep lake for a swim," Suwarno told The Jakarta Post near the site later in the evening.

According to him, he swam out about 100 meters from the edge of the lake and started to float on his back when he spotted a human shape a few meters away.

"While I was floating and looking around, I suddenly saw Kamto swimming some 10 meters from the edge of the lake," Suwarno admitted.

The two were alone in the lake.

Suwarno figured that Kamto was practicing the strokes he had shown him.

He said he had warned his colleague not to swim to the middle of the lake because he was too inexperienced.

But by then it was too late and Kamto was starting to flail.

"When I heard Kamto scream for help and saw his hands beating the water surface, I rushed to him," Suwarno recalled.

Missing

Poor Kamto, he said, nobody on land could hear his cries.

Upon his arrival at the spot, Suwarno could not find Kamto.

"I swam up and down about 10 minutes to look for Kamto's body until I became tired and went ashore and asked for assistance," Suwarno said.

With the help of six restaurant staff members and a nearby canteen worker, Suwarno went back to the scene with the seven people in a small rowing boat.

They finally found Kamto's body after an hour search.

"We discovered Kamto's body covered by mud," said Taufik, the canteen staffer.

The group took the dead man to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Feeling shaken by the incident and at his failure to help Kamto, Suwarno speculated that Kamto was "probably dragged along by the current in the lake, taking him into the middle of the lake," he added.

According to Taufik, Kamto was at least the third person to die in the lake.

"The restaurant's owner has provided a house in Palmerah, West Jakarta, for the gardeners but they all seem prefer to stay here," said Umar Chulik, head of security at the restaurant, referring to the shelter.

Kamto's parents, who live in Central Java, could not be reached to inform them of their son's death.

The amusement park center recently attracted the public's attention when the roller coaster broke down, stranding several visitors in their seats in midair.(asa)