Kedungkandang (malangkota.go.id) – The Mayor of Malang, Wahyu Hidayat, together with the Malang City Government staff, visited the home of Nia Maulida's (10) family on Jalan Kyai Parseh Jaya, Bumiayu Village, Malang City, which was reported to have been swept away in the Brantas River, Tuesday (17/6/2025). During his visit, Mayor Wahyu expressed his deep sorrow for the disaster that befell Nia's family.
Wahyu said that currently the joint SAR team is still searching for the victim who was reported to have been swept away on Monday (16/6/2025). "I have spoken directly to the victim's parents. His condition is still unstable, and we will continue to provide support, both emotionally and in the search process," said Wahyu.
The search was conducted by involving six joint teams, consisting of a river tracing team using rafting boats and a land team that searched along the Brantas River. The joint SAR team and volunteers worked in a coordinated manner and divided the search area. "Maximum efforts continue to be made. We all hope that there will be certainty about the victim's whereabouts soon," said Wahyu.
The Mayor of Malang on this occasion also appreciated the participation of the community who helped search for victims, as well as those involved in the public kitchen of the Joint SAR Team Post. Wahyu also advised the community about the importance of being aware of the risks of activities around the river. "We hope this can be a shared lesson, that playing on the riverbank is very dangerous, especially for children," he said.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Malang Raya SAR Alert Unit, Yoni Fahriza, explained that on the second day of the search, the team was divided into two teams. The first team was tasked with tracing the river using five rafting boats with a total of 25 personnel, and exploring the flow as far as five kilometers from the starting point where the victim was swept away.
Meanwhile, the second team is a land team consisting of three sub-teams with 30 personnel. They are placed at points considered strategic to monitor from the riverbank. "If the land team sees signs of victims, they will immediately report to the post so that the boat team can evacuate," said Yoni.
Yoni admitted that the search process in the Brantas River faced a number of obstacles, ranging from the rocky and slippery contour of the river, the many piles of garbage that hampered visibility, to the strong river current and murky water.
"The search operation was conducted from 07.00 WIB to 16.00 WIB. If there are signs of victims outside of that time, the team will be deployed immediately. But outside of that, we are focused on developing a strategy for the next day's search operation," he explained. (cah/tn)
