TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Six people have drowned in beaches in Padang, West Sumatra, in separate incidents over the last four days of the Eid al-Fitr holidays, rescuers said, as reported by Antara News.
"In the last four days, six people have drowned in various beaches in West Sumatra, such as the Artha and Padang beaches," chief of the operation section of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) for Padang office, West Sumatra, Juanda Sogo said in Padang on Thursday.
He said the victims were suspected to have drowned when they were hit by waves and did not know how to swim. "The waves were relatively large, so they were dragged deeper from the shorelines," Juanda Sogo added.
In addition, Basarnas recorded that three victims who were swept by waves had been saved.
He said that based on data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the height of waves in the morning in the West Sumatras beaches had reached 1 to 1.5 meters.
"From afternoon until night, the waves reached up to 2.5 meters," he remarked.
He added that his side had notified all the visitors to avoid taking bath in the beaches when the waves were high.
ANTARA | INE
