A group of nine foreign tourists were dragged into the waves and found themselves in difficulty while swimming at Batu Mejan Beach, commonly known as Echo Beach, Canggu, on Monday morning (9/10). One of them tragically died, while eight others survived.
As reported by Nusa Bali, the victim who died on Monday morning at around 04:45am was Jorgen Vikan, 19, a tourist from Norway. The eight survivors are Kammila Elizabeth Wilner, 18 (Austrian), Rebbeca Wiman, 19 (Swedish), Stefan Marjanovic, 21 (Swedish), Oscar Erik Bertil Petterson, 20 (Swedish) Carl Aanderson Berntsson, 21 (Swedish), Nils Victor A Svensson, 20 (Swedish), Aurora Betten Hansen, 19 (Norwegian), and Brutht B Patrick, 24 (Belgian).
Information from the field suggests the the deadly incident happened after they had visited Sand Bar at Batu Mejan Beach – on the north side of Echo Beach, on Monday at around 01:00 am. The group, consisting of two women and seven men, apparently spent about three hours at the bar.
After partying at the beach bar, the group headed to the sea in front. They were seen chatting for a moment at the water’s edge before entering the sea to swim at around 04:15 am. They swam out to sea 20 meters from the beach.
After about 30 minutes of swimming, a big wave rolled in and caught them at around 04:45 am. The group, who were still under the influence of liquor tried to save themselves. Unfortunately, the victim Jorgen Vikan, lost the battle and disappeared under the water.
After waiting for several minutes, Vikan still did not show up, so his surviving colleagues tried to search. By the time Virkan was found, he was already dead.
The body of the victim was evacuated to Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar for examination. The incident was reported to the Police of North Kuta. Head of North Kuta Criminal Police Unit, Iptu I Putu Ika Prabawa, said that his team had visited the location of the accident for the testimony of several witnesses.
A witness, Pamangku Pura Batu Mejan, Jro Mangku Nyoman Puspa, 70, claimed to see the group of tourists swimming in the sea. However, Jro Mangku Puspa did not know exactly the sequence of events when the victims went into the waves. What is clear is that one of the foreign tourists was seen lying on the beach while being surrounded by colleagues who tried to provide early help.
“No one saw the details of the incident. Only the nine tourists are bathing in Batu Mejan Beach that morning. While witness Jro Mangku Puspa has only seen what happened after the disaster,” said Iptu Putu Ika Prabawa on Monday.
According to Ika, police are still investigating the accident. Based on the information of the eight tourists who survived they were swimming after drinking in the bar. “They (the eight tourists who survived) are still in shock. They claimed not to know the the waves in Batu Mejan Beach were very large at the time,” said Iptu Putu Ika.
Meanwhile, Sanglah Hospital has conducted an external examination on the body of victim. From the results, there were no signs of violence on the victim’s body, just signs of running out of oxygen. “These signs are widening of blood vessels in the eyes, bluish lips and tissue under the fingernails and fingers are bluish color,” said Head of Forensic Medicine at Sanglah Hospital, Dr Dudut Rustyadi,
To determine the cause of death, including the presence of alcohol in the body of the victim, an autopsy is necessary. Based on the results of initial examination, no alcoholic odor was found as originally suspected. “The smell does not exist yet. There was no distinctive odor (alcohol). In the laboratory, maybe we can take blood samples. I do not know, it might just disappear when in the water,” said Dr. Dudut.
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