Slide survivors, residents told to evacuate in downpours
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor,
"I heard my daughter's voice calling out to me for help. Niti shouted, 'Mom!' and stretched out her hand. But I couldn't reach her because my leg was trapped. I tried to keep my head above the water, which was already up to my neck. I could do nothing but watch my daughter's hand disappear under the mud." | Sat, 09/27/2008 10:25 AM
Tati lost three family members in the accident: her husband Zaini, her daughter Niti Mulyani and her grandchild Yuni. Another victim was her 10-year-old neighbor Alfin.
"It happened at around 5:30 in the afternoon. It was raining cats and dogs. I was heating up dinner to break fast with Niti. Yuni had just came home from working at a restaurant and had gone to her room. My husband was lying down in the living room, waiting the hear the bedug drumbeats (to mark sundown)," she recalled.
"Suddenly I heard this thundering noise. The house poles toppled over and water came rushing in. I couldn't see my granddaughter or my husband. I couldn't even save my daughter," she said in tears.
Tati struggled to keep her head above water for half an hour until neighbors rescued her.
"I don't care about Lebaran. The three most precious people in my life are gone."
Muslims will observe Lebaran, or Idul Fitri on Oct. 1 and 2 this year.
The head of the Bogor Public Works Agency, Syafei, said the 27 families currently living at the bottom of the precipice should heed warning signs and evacuate themselves if there is another downpour.
"We're worried there will be another landslide as we are now in the rainy season," he said.
