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ITB Student Missing on Gunung Puntang During Descent
🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

ITB Student Missing on Gunung Puntang During Descent

From CNN Indonesia · (21m ago) Indonesian Critical tone

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • An Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) master's student, Arief Wibisono, has been missing since Saturday afternoon (May 9) while descending Gunung Puntang in Bandung Regency, West Java.
  • Wibisono was hiking with two companions and reportedly walked ahead of them during the descent.
  • Search and rescue operations are ongoing, coordinated by the Bandung SAR Office, with support from ITB and local rangers.

The disappearance of Arief Wibisono, a Master's student in Environmental Engineering at the prestigious Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), has cast a shadow over the normally serene Gunung Puntang. Wibisono went missing on Saturday afternoon while descending the mountain with two friends, a situation that has prompted an immediate and coordinated search effort.

Please pray that Arief is found soon, healthy and safe.

— Nita YuanitaNita Yuanita, Dean of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at ITB, expressed the university's concern and requested prayers for the missing student.

ITB, through its Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering (FTSL), has confirmed the incident and is actively supporting the search. Dean Nita Yuanita has appealed for prayers for Wibisono's safe return, underscoring the university's deep concern. The Bandung SAR Office launched its rescue operation on Sunday, deploying a team to the area, which is located about 20 kilometers south of Bandung city.

The group of climbers, totaling three people, started the climb around 07:45 AM towards Puncak Mega and arrived at 12:00 PM. After resting for about an hour, the group decided to descend towards the Gunung Puntang basecamp.

— AdeAde, Head of Bandung SAR, provided details about the group's climbing and descent timeline.

The circumstances of Wibisono's disappearance are still being pieced together. He was part of a three-person group that reached Puncak Mega, the mountain's highest point at 2,222 meters, before beginning their descent. Wibisono reportedly started down ahead of his companions and had not reappeared by the time they reached the basecamp around 4 PM. Despite initial searches by rangers until 10 PM, he remained missing, leading to the official SAR alert. The search continues under cloudy weather conditions, with the SAR team covering a significant distance to reach the remote location.

During the descent, the victim was known to walk ahead, leaving his two companions behind. However, when his two companions arrived at the basecamp around 4:00 PM, the victim had not yet returned.

— AdeAde explained the sequence of events during the descent that led to the student becoming separated from his group.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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