A student river cleanup project turned to tragedy on Friday.
Reports are now coming in that 11 students drowned, falling into the river during the cleanup project.
Thankfully, rescuers were able to save 10.
Tragedy Strikes
Local officials stated that a large group of students from an Islamic high junior high school, 150 in all, were working on a river cleanup project at the Cileueur riverbank when the tragedy happened.
The students were reportedly holding hands when one slipped into the river, with one after the other falling in behind.
Deden Ridwansyah, chief of the Bandung Search and Rescue Office, stated, “Those children who drowned were holding each others’ hands. One of them slipped and the others followed.”
For some reason, the students were not wearing flotation devices while working near the water.
The area is reportedly very popular with locals for tubing and rafting.
Officials stated there was no landslide or flash flood, which are common in the area; it was just an accident.
This is now the second major tragedy in as many years involving students.
In 2020, a flash flood killed six students who drowned in a Slaman (district of Yogyakarta province) river.
Source: Fox News
