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Four children die after culvert collapses in North Sumatra
Four children have died after being buried under the rubble of a culvert at Sei Raja village in North Labuhanbatu regency, North Sumatra on Monday.
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Illustration of a semi-collapsed building. (Shutterstock.com/muratart)
Four children have died after being buried under the rubble of a culvert at Sei Raja village in North Labuhanbatu regency, North Sumatra on Monday.
The four children were searching for fish in the water inside the culvert when the structure collapsed.
They were identified as Firdhana Arya Sandi, 15, Raihan Parada Siregar, 11, Apriansah, 10, and Iqbal Wiko Yoduwi, 7.
Sei Raja village chief Hery Sahrizal Siregar said the tragic accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m.
Initially, seven children participated in searching for fish in the ditch next to the village’s main road.
After a couple of hours, four of them decided to enter the culvert, while the remaining three, Ilham, Anjas and Birong, chose to stay outside.
Not long after the four went inside, the culvert, constructed in 1990, partially crumbled and blocked the only way in and out.
Realizing that their friends were trapped, the remaining three children immediately sought help from nearby residents.
Working together, the police, army and residents were only able to recover the bodies from the culvert.
“The four of them passed away because of a lack of oxygen after being trapped inside for too long,” Hery told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The families have received the victims’ bodies, which were to be buried on Tuesday. (bry)
