At Least 168 Killed After Tsunami Hit Indonesia without Warning (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Hundreds were injured and missing and at least 168 people were killed after a tsunami hit the coastline of west Java and Sumatra in Indonesia on Saturday.
The tsunami appears to have been triggered by a combination of underwater landslides caused by the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in the Sunda Strait that lies between the islands of Java and Sumatra.
Eyewitnesses described fleeing for their lives as beachfront hotels and homes were swept away by a towering wall of water on Saturday evening, CNN reported.
The waves caused a stage to collapse in the Tanjung Lesung beach resort while holidaymakers and locals were watching the Indonesian pop band Seventeen.
There was no warning before the waves struck the Pandeglang district, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of public relations at Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
One member of the band has been confirmed dead as well as the manager, according to the Jakarta Post. The newspaper said all the other band members were still missing.
In a tearful video, the lead singer of Seventeen said the band's manager and bass player are seen to be hit by a huge wave that tears through the stage.
Even though Indonesia was the worst country affected by the devastating Boxing Day 2004 tsunami that killed hundred of thousands of people, it still lacks the proper equipment to alert that a tsunami threat is coming.
Indonesia has been hit by a series of natural disasters in recent months, including a powerful earthquake that hit the island of Sulawesi on September 28. In the towns of Baleroa and Petobo, rivers of soil swept away entire neighborhoods in the aftermath of the magnitude-7.5 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
