LABUAN - Indonesian fisherman
Yadi was at his seaside home on the west coast of Java island
when he felt a light breeze picking up on Saturday night as
hundreds of people milled about in nearby restaurants, enjoying
barbecued fish.
Then a surge of seawater swept up the beach, scattering the
crowds, flattening buildings, and sending parked cars crunching
into trees.
At least 281 people were killed in tsunami waves of up to
three metres (10 feet) that hit several towns along the rim of
the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra islands, triggered by
a landslide on the Anak Krakatau volcano.
It is the latest in a string of natural disasters to strike
Indonesia in 2018, making it the deadliest year in more than a
decade.
"People said 'run, run a wave is coming!'. There were three
waves in a row," said Yadi, a middle-aged fisherman who operates
a fleet of six vessels that were among dozens that sank or were
dragged out to sea by the waves.
"There was a real panic. Many people were left behind," he
said, adding that he and his family escaped by running to higher
ground.
What's left behind is a wasteland of collapsed houses and
hotels and muddy roads strewn with twisted metal and wood.
Thousands of displaced and grieving residents were searching
for missing loved ones on Monday and trying to salvage whatever
they could of their belongings.
Heavy equipment was being used to help with the rescue
effort. Medics were sent in with the military, while groups of
police and soldiers searched remote areas.
Cici Paramita, 27, was clambering through the shattered
remains of her house, a tangle of water-logged debris, 50 metres
from the beach.
"We lost all our belongings," she said.
On Saturday night, she said she had to wade through
waist-deep water to rescue her eight-year-old son who was
trapped in debris.