‘MOST OF THE REMAINS WERE DECAPITATED’

Rescue workers working round the clock to recover victims’ bodies

THE sight of decomposed corpses covered in black mud along with the widespread devastation made it seem like Petobo was ground zero of a “small armegeddon”.

Some 9,000 houses located within 3km of the disaster site were swallowed by mud, creating a 5m-high mound.

The devastating earthquake and tsunami occurred a week ago, but thousands of bodies at the settlement had yet to be discovered.

Hundreds of Indonesian volunteers, assisted by the Indonesian National Armed Forces, are working round the clock to recover the remains of the victims.

Exhaustion was written all over their faces as they dug out the bodies with the help of two excavators.

All the while, the victims’ families wept inconsolably at the sight of their loved ones’ remains, decayed and infested with maggots, being brought out in black plastic bags.

Indonesian Red Crescent (PMI) member Titus Charles, 40, said the hot weather, compounded by the mass destruction of properties and vehicles, had forced the volunteers to rely on their noses and hordes of flies to locate the victims’ remains.

“Most of the bodies of Petobo residents were decapitated and had started decomposing.

“It was as if they were buried in the soil, along with their houses in the Sept 28 disaster.

“We would find bodies almost on a daily basis.

“We found five bodies today,” he said.

He said about 100 Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) personnel were working hard every day to locate the dead victims’ bodies in the challenging mission.

“This was caused by the earthquake... an extraordinary one. A disaster that no one saw coming. Almost 70 per cent of the villagers died in the tragedy.”

In one corner, another PMI member, Asdik Hulopi, 48, mourning the death of his wife and mother in-law in the disaster, was determined to fulfil his duties.

“The remains of my wife and mother-in-law are buried somewhere here. They were buried alive in the mud, along with our house. However, I have to be strong and carry out my responsibility to help the victims first.”

Indonesian Foreign Ministry Information and Media director Acmad Ramadan said based on statistic issued by the Indonesian National Disaster Management Body, 1,558 people died in the twin disasters.

Apart from Pentobo, other villages that were totally wiped out by the disaster included Tondo, Parimo and Punglere.

“To date, 2,549 victims are being treated for injuries, of which some of them were flown to the hospital in Makassar. Thousands more are still missing.

“A total of 65,733 houses were destroyed, forcing residents to take refugee at temporary shelters,” he said, adding that efforts to recover all the bodies could take months.