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Mount Semeru residents continue to live in uncertainty, disarray
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Where to go?: Umiati Laila used to live in the now-largely destroyed Curah Kerobokan village. She said she did not know where she would live next. (Courtesy of Sani Sinarsana Kisid) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Sani Sinarsana Kisid)
Weeks after the eruption, local residents remain unsure about what the future holds and how to survive the ongoing calamity.
Mount Semeru erupted on Dec. 4 at 2:50 p.m., covering several villages in Candipuro, East Java, with volcanic ash and killing dozens of residents.
Penanggal village has turned into the main safety zone for many of the people displaced by the event, as nearby villages like Kanjar Kuning, Curah Kobokan and Sumber Wuluh have been blanketed by ash. Practically everything has been wiped out in those areas, except for the empty ruins of houses and dead livestock scattered around.
Local grief
The eruption has left locals grieving for their families and concerned about their future. Husband and wife Imbar Santoso and Syenny Tooy spent days trying to locate their nephew, Okta Tunis Suprianto, who worked as an excavator operator at a local sand mine and went missing during the eruption.
Syenni managed to track down Okta at Dr. Haryoto Hospital in the nearby Lumajang regency. He was in the intensive care unit.
“By the time we arrived, we saw that 90 percent of his face was burnt. While his other body parts had suffered significant burns, they were not as bad as his face,” Syenny said, adding that she was grateful that Okta had been found, as six other excavator operators had gone missing that day.
