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December 25, 2018

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Rescuers use bare hands to search for tsunami victims

Source: Agencies | 00:00 UTC+8 December 25, 2018 | Print Edition

INDONESIAN military and rescue teams fanned out across a stretch of coastline yesterday, hoping to find survivors of a tsunami that has killed at least 373 people.

Thick clouds of ash spewed from Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island where a crater collapse of about 64 hectares at high tide late on Saturday set off waves that smashed into coastal areas on both sides of the Sunda Strait.

Rescuers used heavy machinery and bare hands to dig bodies out of mud and wreckage along a 100-kilometer stretch of Java’s west coast.

More than 1,400 people were injured, and about 12,000 residents had to move to higher ground, with a high-tide warning extended to tomorrow.

“At least 373 people have died, while 128 people are currently missing,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, said yesterday.

The tsunami destroyed more than 700 buildings, from small shops and houses to villas and hotels.

Nurjana, 20, ran uphill after the tsunami hit.

Her beachside snack stall was washed away.

“I opened the door straight away and saved myself, I jumped over the wall,” she said. “Everything is destroyed.”

The high waves isolated hundreds of people on Sebesi island, about 12km from the volcano.

“We are completely paralyzed,” said Syamsiar, a village secretary on the island.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is running for re-election in April, told disaster agencies to install early warning systems, but experts said that, unlike with tsunami caused by earthquakes, little could have been done to alert people that waves were coming.

“Tsunamis from volcanic flank collapse are generated right at the coast and often close to populations,” said Eddie Dempsey, lecturer in structural geology at Britain’s University of Hull.

“The interval between the volcanic collapse and the arrival of the waves is minimal.”

One team used sniffer dogs to search for survivors at the beach club where waves washed away an outdoor stage where the Indonesian rock band Seventeen were performing at a party for about 200 guests. They had already pulled out nine bodies that day.

At a village 20km away, district chief Atmadja Suhara said he was helping to care for 4,000 refugees, many of them now homeless.

“Everybody is still in a state of panic,” he said. “We often have disasters, but not as bad as this.”

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