A father and his two children drowned during a family outing to the Jurug Gue waterfall in Suruh Sub-district of Trenggalek Regency in East Java yesterday in an incident that also saw the family’s mother and two other children hospitalized.
The victims came from Sumberingin Village in the same regency. At around 2 pm, after spending the whole afternoon in the tourist site, the family took selfies at the edge of a pond. The father held two of his children — twins — while the mother held the two eldest children.
“Our suspicion is they drowned after taking selfies,” Suruh Police Chief Yasir said, as quoted by Kompas.
According to reports, the father lost his footing after stepping on a slippery rock. He fell into the the 3-meter deep pond while still holding onto the twins, taking them with him. The mother then jumped in the water to get them out.
Following their mother, the two eldest children also jumped in the water to help. However, according to head of the Trenggalek Police’s Criminal Investigations Unit, Sumi Andhana, because they couldn’t swim, they drowned in the pond along with the father while the mother was only able to save the twins.
After search efforts by the military, police, and local residents, the father and the two eldest children were found dead on the riverbed.
The police didn’t find any signs of violence on the victims’ bodies during their investigation and the deaths are being treated as an accident.
The Trenggalek Regency administration said they gave financial compensation to the remaining family members, even though the waterfall is not officially operated by the government. In light of this incident, Trenggalek Regent Emil Elestianto said he’ll have warning signs put up around the waterfall.
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