They may have been hit by the storm and rain, because of which they may have lost their direction and succumbed to death.
Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - Two mountain climbers from the Students Nature Lover (Mahapala) School of Economics Indonesia (STIESIA) Surabaya was found dead in Mount Kembar (3,052 meters) in the Arjuno-Welirang Mountain, Batu, East Java, on Monday.

"Three students who climbed Mount Kembar on Friday (Jan. 17) were declared missing on Sunday (Jan. 19). All three climbers were found on Monday (Jan. 27) at 10:30 a.m. local time, when two of them confirmed dead," stated the spokesman of Search and Rescue (SAR) of Surabaya, Arief Rahmat in Surabaya on Monday.

Until Monday 12 a.m., attempts were on to search for the three students from the peak of Mount Kembar to the foot of the mountain and the nearby villages.

"Maybe they will arrive at their campus on Monday night," he had stated.

Arief explained that out of the three climbers, Alif and Dian were found dead by the joint team of SAR Surabaya and Mahapala STIESIA, while the other, Budi had survived. All the three students are from the Department of Management STIESIA Surabaya.

"Budi had already graduated while Alif was in his last semester. Dian was still in the first semester. Budi survived only because he was not reckless in the bad weather," Arief pointed out.

Arief stated that the cause of death was still unknown because the post mortem process had not been performed yet.

"They may have been hit by the storm and rain, because of which they may have lost their direction and succumbed to death," he added.

On Saturday (Jan. 18), the climbers were divided into two teams following two routes, namely Mount Kembar 1 and Mount Kembar 2. Alif and Dian went along Mount Kembar 2 while the others followed the Mount Kembar 1 route. Budi did not go anywhere as he chose to wait in the camp.

At around 1:30 pm, the Mount Kembar 1 team came down due to heavy rains and wind. However, Alif and Dian did not make their way down from Mount Kembar 2 until the afternoon. The team then lost contact on Sunday (Jan. 19).

A search process was then carried out and both were found dead on Monday (Jan. 27) at around 10:30 a.m., more than a week after they were lost. Reporting by Edy M Yakub.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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