Youth drowns during brawl

JAKARTA (JP): A teenager was found dead in the Kali Buntu river, Kebon Bawang, North Jakarta, after he tried to escape a brawl with a rival gang in the early hours of Sunday, relatives said.

The victim, La Dawi, 19, a local ojek sepeda (bicycle taxi), had also suffered head injuries.

A relative, Iman, 20, said after Dawi finished subuh (morning prayer) he joined friends to loiter in the area as is common during the Ramadhan fasting month.

He said a brawl with other local youths often resulted from misunderstandings and throwing firecrackers at one another.

"The groups arm themselves with machetes and wooden sticks," Iman said.

Dawi and his group became involved in a brawl with other youths.

"He ran to the river and jumped into it to save his life as the others were chasing him and repeatedly pelting him with rocks," he said.

The youths looked for him along the riverbank and left after they failed to find him, he said.

Dawi's body was found later by his friends, who took it to a nearby hospital.

Another relative, Amran, 35, said Dawi, the third of five siblings, had to earn money for his family shortly after he completed junior high school. (07)