WEB DESK
The death toll from the tsunami that hit Indonesian islands has crossed 420 with more than 1,400 people injured. Thousands of people were left homeless when the waves smashed homes on coastal areas of western Java and southern Sumatra.
Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the death toll had climbed to 429 today and at least 128 were missing. Military troops, government personnel and volunteers were searching along debris-strewn beaches.
For residents living on the west coast of Java Island, the eruptions that came from Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait prior to a tsunami that struck the area on Saturday were nothing out of the ordinary. They said the volcano was only “coughing” and that it was nothing to worry about, report Jakarta Post.
But that day, Walid, 27, a fisherman, felt something different.
“I was fishing when the tsunami occurred,” said the resident of Panimbang district in Pandeglang regency, Banten.
It began as a regular evening: He set sail with other fisherfolk, going kilometers into the sea, then began fishing.
“I noticed that there was something different with the [Anak Krakatau] volcano that evening. The rumbling sounds were different and the lava at its top shone brighter,” he said.
Since June, Anak Krakatau has erupted every day, sometimes 99 times a day, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).
Even though the volcano had been rumbling and spewing ash over the past six months, Walid said he and his fellow fisherfolk never worried about going fishing every night.
When the clock struck at around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, Walid saw fiery lava spit out from the volcano. Slowly, he began to feel the sea level fall and noticed that waves at the far shore had turned white.