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ne recent Sunday, Hilda Noviyani Haryono recalled her memories of the May 1998 riots and how her late father had joined a mass looting at Mega Mall Lippo Karawaci, the first shopping mall in Tangerang regency.

The 23-year-old woman recollected images of her father bringing home a carpet and a wide mirror after the looting, during which the mall caught on fire and 28 plunderers died inside.

“Knowing that many people had died in the mall, I was afraid to look at the mirror. I always imagined some of the dead souls would appear there,” said Hilda, adding that she did not know where the carpet and mirror were now.

Another man, Agus Munawarman, was also among a large group of people that looted the mall, which has now become Supermall Karawaci. At that time, said the now 50-year-old well-digger, he spontaneously took the chance to fit out his small new house with some electronic devices.

However, fear took hold of him during the looting when he realized the temperature was getting hotter inside the mall. He decided to leave with just a television, just minutes before the fatal fire broke out.

“Countless people were flocking into the mall, running here and there and grabbed whatever they could. Thank God I got back home safely,” said Agus, adding that once home he realized that the screen he had taken was actually a cash register screen, which could not be used as a television.

From May 13 to 15, 1998, some days before the downfall of president Soeharto, Jakarta and surrounding areas, including Tangerang regency, was rocked by bloody riots involving thousands of people.

The tragedy left thousands traumatized. During those few days, at least 1,217 lives were lost, 91 people were injured and 31 others simply disappeared according to a report from Volunteers for Humanity, entitled “Sujud di Hadapan Korban Tragedi Jakarta Mei 1998” (Kneeling before Victims of Jakarta’s 1998 Tragedy).

For Chinese-Indonesians, the trauma was even worse as many from their community were also tortured and raped.

In Tangerang regency, Chinese-Indonesians did not get home safely if they were spotted on the roads, said Bambang Hendarto, 48, who during the tragedy was one of the civilians that joined the police’s antiriot unit.

The unit’s first task was to secure public spaces, including malls, against violent crowds. However, the unit Bambang joined failed to maintain security at Mega Mall and another shopping center near to it as the team only comprised 20 personnel.

“We tried our best to secure the area. We even fired our guns but with such a small number of personnel, what could we do? We withdrew from the riots to save our lives,” said Bambang, adding that he saw some Chinese-Indonesians that had been tortured on the roads but he was too afraid to help them.

The mob members, who came from all around the regency, did not, however, see school-bus driver Ignatius Prio Prabowo and some of his friends escorting Chinese-Indonesian students home safely.

Leaving their cars at the school, Prio and his fellow drivers managed to get the students home uninjured by walking them along alternative roads and getting them to wear jackets or anything they had to disguise their Chinese facial features and fair complexions.

“I held the hands of the older children and carried the younger ones. Just like them, I felt scared, but I swore to myself that I would get them home safely,” said the Javanese man with tears in his grey eyes. “Every time I remember that moment, I always feel touched. God did the work for us.”

However, because of the incident, his daughter had to be separated from her best friend as the family moved to Taiwan with Prio’s parents to live safely, Prio told The Jakarta Post.