US Man Found Drowned on Bengkulu Beach
Jakarta. A 36-year old student from the United States died while swimming at Panjang Beach in Bengkulu on Saturday (04/03).
Agolo Suparto, the head of Bengkulu's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), said US national Timothy Allen Adams was found dead at around 07.15 p.m by a local fisherman, after hours of search by Basarnas and Navy officers failed to find anything.
Witnesses saw Adams swimming at the beach at around 01.00 p.m. with his friend Tony Cort and three teenagers. The visitors ignored repeated warnings from local hawkers who advised them against swimming at the beach, witnesses said.
Panjang Beach opens into the Indian Ocean and is known for its fierce currents, which have claimed several lives before. The local government prohibits swimming at the beach.
A couple of hours later locals saw Cort and the three teenagers waved their hands asking for help. They managed to save Cort and the teenagers and then contacted Basarnas to help them find Adam.
"The body was found floating at the beach and we transported it to the Police Hospital in Bengkulu for autopsy," Agolo said.
Pol. Supt. Ardian Indra Nurinta, the Bengkulu police chief, said the police have notified the US embassy to arrange the body to be returned home.
Adams had been staying in the Rejang Lebong district, three hours drive to the west of Bengkulu, for the past two months to study its culture, Ardian said.
Tags: Keywords: