Mudslide survivors lose hope for relatives<\/p>\n
Fidelito Ahmad, The Jakarta Post, Mojokerto<\/p>\n
Mulyadi, 41, a resident of Jl. Ngagel Tirto, Mojokerto, East
\nJava, burst into tears when a forensic expert at Surabaya's Dr.
\nSoetomo hospital confirmed on Friday that one of the seven
\nunidentified corpses in the hospital morgue was his wife, Sri
\nUtami.<\/p>\n
The sad confirmation ended his one-day wait from the time the
\ncorpses had been taken to Surabaya from Dr. Wahidin Sudiro Husodo
\ngeneral hospital in Mojokerto a day before.<\/p>\n
\"I was already sure that my wife was one of the seven dead,\"
\nMulyadi said weakly.<\/p>\n
Sri's body was found crushed under a huge rock by a rescue
\nteam on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
She was one of the victims of the sudden mudslide on Wednesday
\nthat wiped the Padusan hot springs tourist resort off the face of
\nthe earth.<\/p>\n
Some 60 people, mostly school-aged children, are feared dead;
\n36 bodies -- including the seven in the Surabaya hospital -- have
\nalready been identified while 26 people are still missing.<\/p>\n
The mudflow also injured five others, three of whom are still
\nin a serious condition.<\/p>\n
Mulyadi said his family -- which included Sri, 35, and their
\ntwo sons Ramadoni, 9, and Rizky, 6 -- spent the Idul Fitri
\nholiday at the resort.<\/p>\n
\"My wife had this rheumatic problem, so we decided to go
\nthere. We've been visiting the resort once a week since
\nSeptember. At the time (of the mudslide), there were some 60
\npeople bathing in the pool,\" Mulyadi said.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, they heard people shouting, \"There's water coming!
\nthere's water coming!\" Mulyadi quickly jumped out of the pool
\ncarrying Rizky, followed by Sri.<\/p>\n
At the front entrance to the resort, dozens of people were
\nalready struggling to get out.<\/p>\n
When she realized that Ramadoni was not with her, Sri ran back
\nto the pool, remembering that the little boy was playing in the
\ncold water pool next to the hot one.<\/p>\n
A thundering roar was then heard, the terrifying sound of the
\ntons of mud and boulders that engulfed the resort just a few
\nseconds after Mulyadi and Rizky managed to get out. Next thing
\nthey heard were cries for help, which quickly dissipated as the
\nmassive boulders entombed the area where the pools had been just
\na few short minutes before.<\/p>\n
\"I said a prayer, hoping that God would grant me a miracle by
\nsaving my wife and child,\" said Mulyadi sobbing distraughtly.<\/p>\n
At the time of going to press, Ramadoni, or Doni, had yet to
\nbe found. As were 10 students from the SMU PGRI II Mojokerto
\nState Senior High School.<\/p>\n
On the day of the mudslide, the students were climbing up
\nMount Welirang. The Padusan resort was located on the slopes of
\nthe mountain.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Wiwit, 23, a resident of Mojokerto, was seen
\nleaving the Sumber Glagah Health Center in Pacet.<\/p>\n
He had been checking one by one the clothes, bags, sandals,
\nshoes, and other personal belongings found by the rescue teams at
\nthe disaster scene and later placed on the veranda of the health
\ncenter.<\/p>\n
But Wiwit found nothing that belonged to his brother, M.
\nHorizon, or Roni, who was one of the students.<\/p>\n
He then went to the Rekso Waluyo hospital downtown to find out
\nif their bodies had been brought there. Again his trip was in
\nvain.<\/p>\n
\"Roni left with his friends on Wednesday. He called around
\n11:30 p.m. on his cell phone, but I couldn't fully understand
\nhim. But he was screaming for help as he had been hit by a rock
\nand got trapped underneath it. He asked me to come to Pacet,\"
\nWiwit said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"He also said that he was just above the hot springs. But up
\nuntil today, we have heard nothing from him nor about him. But
\nthe body of one of his friends, Ambarwati, was found at the
\nresort as she decided not to hike up the mountain that
\nafternoon,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mudslide-survivors-lose-hope-for-relatives-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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