A male tourist from the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak died after falling from the third floor balcony to the second floor at a hotel where he stayed during his trip to West Bandung regency, West Java.
The news of the victim’s death, who has been identified as 30-year-old S, was spread through a 15-second clip that has been circulating online since yesterday. The video shows a hole in the hotel’s balcony floor, and the woman who was heard speaking behind the camera said that S plunged through it into the floor below.
“This is the spot where S fell down. How can the hotel’s management never check? The cement is thin and [the balcony floor] broke,” the woman said in the video.
Agus Saepudin, a security guard at the hotel, said that the incident occurred on Monday morning. Agus heard the guest’s scream for help, and he found S lying in the pool of his own blood on the second floor balcony.
S, who was reportedly wounded on the side of his head, was still alive when he was brought to the nearest clinic before he was referred to a hospital in Bandung city. Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries when he received treatment at the hospital’s emergency unit.
According to Agus, S had checked in at the hotel with five of his family members for a two-day stay, and he fell to his death on the second day. The security guard said he previously wasn’t aware about the reported thin balcony floors, which was an accident waiting to happen considering the hotel had been fully booked in the past month.
The victim’s family is currently staying at a hotel near the hospital. The local police have launched an investigation into the case after learning about the incident as it went viral on social media yesterday. Meanwhile, the hotel has reportedly agreed to assume responsibility for the incident, including by taking care of S’ cremation.Asep Mulia, who heads Cisarua Sub-Precinct’s Crime Investigation Unit, said that police will question the hotel’s management to determine if they are criminally liable for negligence.
