Ustaz saw his house swallowed by the earth

PALU: For almost two weeks now, Abu Umar Al Qassam, his family and many others like them have been sleeping under the stars, their “mattress” is the ground beneath them.

The 39-year-old ustaz, his wife and four children were, in fact, left with the clothes on their backs after the earthquake and tsunami last month. Their home had been split into two, and then swallowed by the earth.

It was all gone in a blink of an eye, said Umar, and the family had to walk far before finally finding space to settle down next to a religious school.

That was where Umar, his wife Zaitun Takdir, 37, and children — Hafizah Umairah, 2, Umar Abdul Aziz, 4, Umar Al Qassam, 9, and Muhammad Mursyid Arif, 11 — had been staying since that fateful day.

“I was only able to put up a canvas sheet as shade for my children from the hot sun. We are also sharing this place with dozens of other victims who, like us, have lost their homes.

“This ‘tent’ is not big enough for our family, so some of us sleep under the stars. Luckily, there has not been any rain since the earthquake,” he told the New Straits Times Press.

Describing the day the earth shook, Umar said he was shocked by what happened and just how quickly his family’s luck had turned.

“All I managed to do was grab my children and run out of the house after the earthquake struck. Moments later, the unbelievable happened... the ground rose 5m, breaking my house in two.”

Umar said the ground then seemed to twist, and came crashing down as a large hole that swallowed around 1,000 houses.

“Not long after that, water and mud began to rush out of the ground and fires began burning in Kampung Balaroa.

“So many people died after being crushed by falling houses, smothered by mud or burnt in the fires.

“Only about 200 bodies have been recovered in Balaroa. There are many more which the authorities are finding difficult to recover.”

Umar, however, was grateful to God that his family was safe.

“There are many here who have lost family members or whose family members are seriously injured.

“I thank God that, even though we lost our home, we have been given a chance to live.

“I have been telling my children and wife that this is a test from Allah. God has given us this test because he loves us.”

Lokman Lataran, 51, from Kampung Tosale, said hundreds of people who fled the village following the earthquake were afraid to return as there were many aftershocks daily.

“We will stay here, on top of the hill, and sleep in the tents. We are afraid that if we go back to the village, a tsunami will occur while we are there.

The earthquake and tsunami survivors are traumatised and believe that an even bigger earthquake will occur.

“Such rumours have gone viral,” said Lokman.