Ina and Putri struggled for more than nine hours inside the car that was buried under a collapsed wall and a landslide.
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Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Heavy machinery is used to clean up after a landslide hit Jl. Perimeter Selatan at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday (6/2). The landslide, which killed one woman and injured another, forced the airport trains to stop operation.
Ina and Putri struggled for more than nine hours inside the car that was buried under a collapsed wall and a landslide. Nobody suspected that the retaining wall of the underpass, which was built just two months ago, could collapse. Putri’s life was taken.
Mutmainah Syamsudin, 25, is recovering. As of Tuesday night (6/2), the employee of the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) AeroAsia, a subsidiary of PT Garuda Indonesia, had been moved to a semi-intensive room, as her condition was stable.
“She has been conscious, able to interact, make jokes and communicate well,” said Siloam Hospital business development head Alexander Mutak.
Ina, as Mutmainah is called, was evacuated on Tuesday at around 7 a.m. after being trapped for more than 13 hours in a car that was buried by a retaining wall that had collapsed at around 5:15 p.m. on Monday (5/2). The collapsed retaining wall was part of an underpass that ran beneath a railway for the airport train to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Jl. Perimeter Selatan in Karang Sari subdistrict, Neglasari district, Tangerang, Banten.
After her rescue, an ambulance took Ina to Siloam Hospital in Lippo Village Karawaci, Tangerang. Search and rescue head Rear Marshal Muhammad Syaugi of the Indonesian Military (TNI), who led the rescue, said Ina’s family had chosen the hospital.
Ina was one of the two victims in the accident. At the time, she was with her colleague Dianty Diah Ayu Cahyani Putri, 24, inside the Honda Brio. Putri drove the car and Ina was in the passenger seat beside her.
Putri was rescued first at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, or nine hours after being trapped inside the car. She was taken to Tangerang Regional Hospital before she was transferred to Mayapada Hospital, also in Tangerang.
“At around 5 a.m., our staff members received a call from the Tangerang Regional Hospital about the patient Dianty Diah Ayu Cahyani Putri, a victim of the collapsed retaining wall at the airport. The staff members said the patient would be brought to this hospital [Mayapada] because she needed further treatment. We received information that the ICU at Tangerang hospital could not treat her,” Mayapada Hospital president director Markus Waseso said at a press conference on Tuesday.
When doctors from Mayapada Hospital arrived at the Tangerang Hospital, Putri’s condition was already declining. “After some discussions with the family, the company and the hospital, the patient was taken to Mayapada Hospital,” he said.
At 6:43 a.m. Putri died.
Gatot Tjahjono and Sudiana Susilaning, Putri’s father and mother, said that before she died, Putri was having difficulties breathing.
GMF AeroAsia finance director Insan Nurcahya said at Mayapada Hospital that Putri had just received a promotion in February 2018 after working for six months.
Syaugi said the soil at the site of the accident was too wet, so that a 20-ton crane could not be used. Besides, access was extremely limited and only two rescuers could reach the car.
Investigation
Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police chief Sr. Comr. Akhmad Yusep Gunawan said his personnel were investigating the retaining wall’s collapse. The underpass had been operating for only two months.
“We are investigating the scene. We want to collect evidence and facts on its construction,” Yusep said.
Yusep said the investigation would involve experts to discover the quality of the walls and pillars. As of Tuesday night, Jl. Perimeter Selatan and the airport train were still closed.
Yani Wira, a technician with PT Waskita Karya, visited the scene after the rescue. He found several cracks on both sides of the retaining wall.
“It looks like the cracks were caused by the earthquake last month,” Yani said. Waskita Karya was one of the developers of the airport train development project.
He said Waskita Karya was still investigating the case. It would take time because it involved several elements, such the design, the contractor and logistics.
Pelita Harapan University construction management professor Manlian Ronald A Simanjuntak said the collapse of the underpass retaining wall was a result of a failure in operational management of the construction project. The incident was not an accident, but a risk that should have been prevented.
