Six teenagers drowned after 'firecracker fight'

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 09/15/2008 10:09 AM  |  Headlines

What started as child's play turned ugly Sunday morning when six teenage boys drowned in Sasak Tinggi lake in Pamulang, Tangerang.

The incident began with two groups of boys from neighboring housing complexes having a "firecracker fight" -- firing firecrackers at each other -- as they usually do after the pre-dawn meal during the fasting month.

But on Sunday the game grew overheated, with the teenagers getting into a brawl.

When police came to break up the fight, the boys panicked, some of them plunging into the lake.

Fourteen boys decided to escape from the police by swimming across the lake. Only seven made it to the other side.

Six boys, who could not swim, drowned. One other teenager, identified as Abimanyu, is currently being treated at nearby Bhineka Bakti Husada Hospital.

The teenagers lived in the police's mobile brigadier housing complex.

"They jumped into the lake when they saw the police patrol coming," South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Anwar said Sunday, adding there had been no clash with police before the attempted escape.

The six teenagers who drowned have been identified as Ibnu Ganesha, 13, Solihin Bujang, 15, Randi, 15, Sinung, 16, Maulana, 15, and M. Iqbal, 16.

Five of the six were buried at Cimanggis cemetery in Ciputat, Tangerang. The other one was taken to Yogyakarta.

According to the head of the criminal unit at Pamulang Police, First Insp. Agus Suyanto, about 20 police officers were initially sent to stop the firecracker fight.

"When we arrived, they were brawling and then they ran away ... Some jumped into the lake," he said, as quoted by detik.com.

Chairul said seven witnesses from the area had been questioned over the incident.

This was not the first firecracker-related brawl to have broken out during Ramadan. Fights most often erupt at the time of the pre-dawn meal and fast-breaking times when groups of teenagers gather and play with firecrackers.

Since the fasting month started on Sept. 1, two brawls have been reported among residents in Cempaka Putih and Petamburan, both in Central Jakarta.

The city police plans to increase patrols at certain hours to prevent brawls.

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