They’re back from Lombok, Indonesia, where a deadly quake struck – and they’ve got stories to tell.
Plan to descend early may have helped group avoid further injury
SEPANG: A group of Malaysian hikers made a spontaneous decision that probably saved their lives shortly before an earthquake hit Lombok recently.
The group of 18, known as Team Hiloadna, had decided to descend from Mount Rinjani a day earlier.
A spokesman for the group Haziq Wafy Mohd Azman said the team, including the victim Siti Nur Iesmawida Ismail, managed to reach the top last Friday.
“We were supposed to start our journey down on Sunday but decided to do it on Saturday instead, so that we could rest and explore a nearby village.
“This is all God’s will. We don’t know what would have happened if we had stuck to our original plan,” he said when met by reporters on arrival from Lombok yesterday.
Haziq Wafy arrived with 14 other hikers and were greeted with relief and tears by family members and friends.
Lombok was hit by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake at about 7am on Sunday.
Apart from two team members, the rest were first-timers to Mount Rinjani but all of them were skilled and experienced climbers, including Haziq Wafy who had climbed the Anapurna Base Camp in Nepal.
Recounting the experience, the 26-year-old self-employed from Perak said it took them a while to realise there was an earthquake.
“We have never experienced one before and when we realised it, everyone was scrambling to get out of the house.
“By then, the houses were crumbling around us. Some were trapped in the rubble, including Siti Nur Iesmawida,” he said.
Haziq Wafy said he would be taking a break from mountain climbing for a while “to restore his confidence”.
“On behalf of the team, I would like to express our appreciation to the Indonesian authorities, Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, as well as villagers of Desa Sajang in Sembalun for helping us at our time of need,” he said.
Ahmad Tamyiz Mak Aris was overjoyed when his daughter Nurul Fatin Nabilah walked out of the airport’s arrival hall.
The family had spent several agonising hours on Sunday before they got news that Nurul Fatin was all right.
Asked if he would discourage his 24-year-old daughter, who was born deaf and mute, from future climbing expeditions, Ahmad Tamyiz said: “How can I? That’s her passion. She has been climbing and hiking since she was a little girl. I can’t stop her from doing what she loves. All I can do is pray for her safety.”