APM members recall heartbreaking experience rescuing tsunami victims

SUNGAI PETANI: Civil Defence Force (APM) member, Sgt Hasrul Mohd Heary Halim recalled how he tried to pull out the body of a woman but failed initially as half of her body was trapped under a concrete pillar after her home was washed away when the tsunami hit villages in Kota Kuala Muda, 12 years ago.

“Only after the pillar was removed, the body of the paralysed elderly woman could be freed,” said Hasrul, 37, whose heartbreaking experience remained fresh in his memory to this day.

“Looking back, on Dec 26, 2004, after completing my tasks as a junior general assistant at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bedong, I was asked to check on the situation in Kota Kuala Muda which was devastated by the monstrous tsunami.

“I was with three friends, Cpl Mohd Zaimee Zainuddin (a lans cpl then), Pte Azwan Fitri Abdul Rahman, and Pte Bakri Mat. We rushed to the disaster site even though we were still clueless of what exactly had happened there since the weather was good that day,” he told Bernama, here, yesterday.

He recalled that going on two separate motorcycles, they soon arrived at the Kota Kuala Muda police station and saw some black plastic bags containing the bodies of tsunami victims, as well as injured victims who were covered in mud.

“Once we got permission to enter the disaster zone, and after being briefed, we were divided into two groups.

“I was with Azwan and members of other rescue agencies, and we were tasked to find an elderly woman, Tempawan Khamis, 74, who was paralysed and believed to be trapped in her house,” he said.

They rushed to the poor woman’s house in Kampung Tepi Sungai guided by her husband. Unfortunately, what were left of the house were only the cement floor and concrete pillars covered in mud.

“Most parts of the wooden house were washed away into the nipah palm jungle about 20 metres away, and after moving some debris away, we found her hand, trapped underneath.

“Once the fallen wooden structures were removed, we found the dead woman whose appearance was surprisingly clean, no traces of mud on her clothes and was confirmed as the man’s wife,” he said.

Hasrul said the operation was successful with the total tally of 11 bodies found including the body of an unidentified man believed to have been swept away from a nearby island.

“At that time, the fear and fatigue were pushed away. All I felt was a sense of responsibility to carry out the task given. But I still feel sad now thinking of those killed, who were struggling to try save themselves as the tsunami hit them,” he said.

It was a different story with another member, Sgt Mohd Salleh Wahab, 48, an APM voluntary driver at the time and was in Alor Setar for work when informed of the disaster.

“I was shaken and wondering about my two daughters who were at my mother-in-law’s house in Kota Kuala Muda. My in-laws and other relatives resided there. After sending the unit head and other members to their locations, I asked their permission to visit my family.

“Although I was relieved to know that my daughters, Fatin Hasbila and Fatin Umairah, were safe as they were visiting their uncle in Sungai Petani when the tsunami hit, I felt sad looking at my mother-in-law’s house with only the cement floor left,” he recalled. — Bernama