D

oddy, 27, believes his mother, Olinis, 50, is still alive, even though she has been missing for nearly two weeks after the 7.6-magnitude earthquake rattled West Sumatra, claiming more than 800 lives.

For days Doddy has handed out flyers across the city, containing information on his missing mother, hoping somebody will call to tell him she is alright. Many had called, Doddy said, but none had given him the news he wanted to hear.

"They mostly call to give us strange information, like that my mother is currently in Jambi, which is impossible. There are also those who have asked for money without giving us any worthwhile information," he told The Jakarta Post.

Olinis was last seen at Plaza Andalas, the most crowded shopping mall in the West Sumatra capital of Padang, where dozens reportedly died in a fire caused by the quake.

Olinis's older sister, Ermida, 55, who was queueing at the cashier when the tremor occurred, saw Olinis standing at the entrance to the plaza, Doddy said.

"There is no way she did not escape," said Ari, Ermida's son.

"People were rushing to get out of the building and it was impossible for an old woman like her to run against the stream."

Once she was out, Ermida met with her daughters and nieces, who had escaped from the building's second floor. They had waited for Olinis, but she never showed up.

Doddy's relatives claimed to have seen Olinis on TV, caught running during the quake. A few days ago, they had seen her on TV for a second time, sitting among the quake survivors waiting for their families to find them.

"We resorted asking a shaman to help us find her, and were told she was alive but appeared to be too shocked to talk," Ari said.

According to West Sumatra Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (Satkorlak), as of Friday night four people were still listed as missing from Padang, and 237 from Padang Pariaman regency. The other 17 regencies and municipalities in the province had not reported any of their residents missing.

Rescuers, however, believe the figure is higher in Padang, because the city administration only has records of its citizens, but not commuters or visitors who may have also been caught in the quake.

Budi Susanto, a staff member at the center for missing people, the offices of which are not far from the half-flattened Ambacang Hotel, said 48 people had died in the building, but only 43 had been identified. Twenty-seven people were believed to still be in hotel ruins and were registered as missing, he said.

"The figure could be higher," he said.

Rescuers have stopped searching for victims in the Ambacang Hotel and Plaza Andalas. There were no activities at the two sites on Saturday, except the chatter of onlookers who were mostly from outside Padang.

Mintarya S., a staff member of M. Djamil Hospital, where residents have collected the remains of those who died as a result of the quake, said there was only one unclaimed body remaining in the hospital morgue.

"We have no way of identifying her," he said.

Doddy said he had checked at the hospital and had not found his mother.

"She is not my mother," Doddy said referring to the unidentified remains.

"We have checked her fingerprints," he said.