Jakarta, ThedailyID — A four-year-old boy died after spending nearly four hours trapped inside a narrow construction pit at a public park project in South Jakarta, authorities said on Sunday.
The child, identified only by the initial I, fell into the hole while playing with friends near a multi-purpose sports field construction site in the Manggarai area of Tebet late Saturday night.
Police said the accident happened at around 11:40 p.m. local time. The pit measured about 3.5 to 4 meters deep and only 30 by 30 centimeters wide, making rescue efforts extremely difficult.
Friends of the victim immediately alerted nearby emergency personnel, who then contacted Tebet Police and other rescue agencies.
Emergency crews first attempted a manual rescue by lowering a small-built rescuer into the shaft. However, the narrow space and the child’s condition prevented them from pulling him out safely.
Authorities later coordinated with the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Department, medical teams and Tebet Regional Hospital. They also deployed two excavators to carefully dig around the shaft while preventing soil collapse.
Police secured the area with safety barriers to allow rescuers to work without interference from crowds gathering at the scene.
After nearly four hours of rescue operations, crews pulled the boy from the pit at around 3:55 a.m. He was still alive when rescuers reached him and immediately transported him to Jakarta’s Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM).
However, Tebet Police Chief AKP Ischak said the child died on the way to the hospital.
Fire and Rescue Sector Chief Kusnanto confirmed that rescue personnel found the victim alive during the evacuation.
“Our team rescued the child while he was still alive. Unfortunately, he did not survive the journey to the hospital,” Kusnanto said.
Police have launched an investigation to determine how the child fell into the construction pit. Authorities have not yet announced whether the project complied with required safety measures or whether negligence contributed to the fatal accident.
