C

hief Pvt. M. Taufik Bilak of the Timka Cavalry Detachment III was killed when the armored combat vehicle he was driving overturned at Mile 43 of the copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia (PT FI) in Timika, Papua, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

The ill-fated vehicle was carrying six people, three soldiers including the driver and three civilians.

Spokesman of the Cenderawasih Military District Command Col. Ali Hamdan Bogra confirmed the incident, but had no detailed information as of Tuesday afternoon.

“There was an incident, but no details are available yet,” Ali Hamdan said.

M. Taufik died after being evacuated to the nearby Kuala Kencana clinic, while First Pvt. Arifin was tranferred from the clinic to Mitra Masyarakat Hospital having sustained fracture to his wrist. Second Pvt. Dimas was also slightly injured.

M. Taufik’s body will be flown to Situbondo, East Java, for burial.

“We’re still meeting. We’ll check the condition of others,” Ali Hamdan said.

Ali Hamdan said of the three civilians, who were employees of PT FI, Jonatan Mansawan sustained head injuries; Rudi Irianto slight injuries on his right temple and Achmad Saiful was injured on his head and face.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for PT Freeport Ramdani Sirait expressed condolences to the family of the dead soldier and also hoped for a speedy recuperation by those injured in the incident.

“PT FI expresses regret at the incident which caused one death and expresses condolences to the victim’s family members and hopes for the immediate recovery of those injured,” Ramdani said in an SMS message to The Jakarta Post.

Ramdani further said that the authorities had been on the location to investigate the cause of the incident with the full support and cooperation of PT FI.