Seputarkarawang.com - Karawang, A heartbreaking incident occurred at the KW 15 Cikangkung Irrigation Main Water Gate, Rengasdengklok District, Karawang Regency, on Friday afternoon (26/6/2026). A 14 year old teenager named Muhamad Rehan, a resident of Karajan Hamlet, Kertasari Village, was reported missing after allegedly drowning while swimming with his friends in the irrigation canal.The incident began at around 16.00 WIB when the victim and a number of his colleagues decided to go down into the water in the irrigation area. Unfortunately, while swimming, one of the witnesses at the location, Abas, saw the victim raise his hands up as a signal to ask for help. Not long after, the victim's body disappeared from the surface of the water, thought to have been swept away by the strong undercurrent around the flood gate.Hearing screams for help, local residents immediately came to the location to carry out emergency rescue efforts. One of the victim's colleagues was successfully evacuated safely, but Muhamad Rehan was no longer visible. Until Friday evening, the joint SAR team together with local residents were still continuing to carry out intensive searches along the water flow to look for the whereabouts of victims.
An atmosphere of sadness enveloped the scene when the victim's family arrived at the irrigation area. The family looked shocked and could not control their tears, especially because the victim had previously said goodbye to the house on the pretext of going to get a haircut. The victim's relative, Ropiah, revealed that he did not expect Rehan to be at the irrigation, considering that the victim was known to have never had the habit of swimming there.Ropiah further said that Rehan was a teenager who had just finished junior high school. The victim is even known to have registered at a Vocational High School (SMK) to continue his education. The family's hope of seeing the child wearing a new school uniform has now turned into deep sorrow as the search process is still ongoing.Until this news was published, the joint SAR team was still working hard to carry out a search by combing every point around the KW 15 Cikangkung Sluice Gate. This incident has also been handled by local authorities. The public is advised to always increase vigilance, especially in supervising children when playing in open water areas with strong currents to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
