‘I lost 100 family members’: Aceh

tsunami survivors recount tragedy 15

On the morning of December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s most
western province Aceh. Mr Bahri heard people shouting that water had rushed into the city, rising
fast and flooding most of the area.

“I thought it was doomsday(dumday, Hari kiamat ),” the 52-year-old recalled.

With his wife and three children in tow, Mr Bahri immediately ran to the nearest mosque for shelter.
Although the tsunami waves reached 15m to 30m in some parts of Aceh, the water did not reach the
second floor of the mosque.

“I saw everything being swept away by the water, from trash, house debris(Serpihan rumah) to
human beings.

“A neighbour was stuck between the rubble(Runtuhan). He cried for help but I couldn’t reach out to
him as I was trying to save myself. I saw with my own eyes how he died,” Mr Bahri said.

(ks) Rahmat Saiful Bahri

Rahmat Saiful Bahri sought shelter(mencari perilindungan) at this mosque 15 years ago when
tsunami struck. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)

The carnage(pembunuhan beramai-ramai) is still fresh on the minds of many Acehnese.

Mr Bahri and two others opened up to CNA about their pain and loss, as well as their personal
takeaways from the massive devastation.
To some, there is a silver lining in terms of how the whole province has pulled together in
reconstruction and development efforts.

Aceh tsunami 7

Acehnese sift through the rubble of a collapsed building with debris scattered across the street
trying to salvage(untuk menyelamatkan) what they can in Banda Aceh, Dec 29 2004, following the
killer 9.0-magnitude quake and resulting tsunami Dec 26. (File photo: AFP/Bay Ismoyo)

READ: 15 years on, a look back at the Boxing Day tsunami

“WATER IS A KILLER”

Amid the chaos(k e os) at the mosque, Mr Bahri, a civil servant, lost sight of his first child. He
frantically (ketakutan) searched everywhere once the water receded (dibatalkan).

Dead bodies were scattered over the town, which was now a horrific scene of destruction. Officially,
the death toll was 170,000 in Aceh.

Fortunately for Mr Bahri, his son was found alive days later in Sigli, about 110km away from Banda
Aceh, as police had brought him there assuming he was orphaned.

Two times tsunami survivor

Mr Rahmat Saiful Bahri shows a picture of his eldest son, who initially went missing during the
tsunami in 2004. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)

Mr Bahri was grateful that his family and close relatives survived, but the disaster left him
traumatised(tro mo tais, trauma).

“I thought water is a killer,” he said, adding that he could not swim in the ocean for a long time after
the tsunami until he overcame his trauma.

But as fate would have it, Mr Bahri went through a similar horror last year. He was on a business trip
to Palu on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in September, when an earthquake struck.

His room was shaking as he was about to take a shower. Clad (berpakaian) only in his underwear, he
ran out of his room and rushed upstairs. “If the hotel was going to collapse, at least I would be on
top of the building and not crushed by the ceilings,” he explained.
When he reached the top floor, he saw huge waves swallowing everything within sight. “I
surrendered myself to Allah,” he recalled.

Palu Anniversary (2)

Uncleared debris from the houses after the earthquake that hit the town of Palu, Indonesia's Central
Sulawesi in September 2018 (Photo: Jeremy Long)

In that 7.5-magnitude quake and 7m-high tsunami that claimed 4,000 lives, the hotel Mr Bahri was
at only suffered minor damages. He survived yet another tsunami.

From his two close brushes with death, Mr Bahri learned a couple of lessons on crisis survival.

“The key is to remain calm. Don’t panic because you can’t think clearly if you panic. You have to take
actions in a rational way,” he said.

READ: 'I wanted to die too' - Sole survivor of Seventeen band carries scars of deadly Indonesia
tsunami

LOSING 100 FAMILY MEMBERS

Mr Ridwan Johan’s survival story was similar to Mr Bahri’s.

He escaped unscathed by seeking shelter at a mosque at his neighbourhood in Banda Aceh.

“I lost 100 family members in the tsunami, my cousins and their immediate families,” the 53-year-
old said.

His mother’s house was reduced to rubble but she survived by clinging on to a piece of wood as
water carried her away.

Having experienced tsunami and heard many other stories, Mr Johan concluded that a building’s
structure plays a major role on whether it would survive a natural disaster - apart from God’s
protective hands.

Ridwan Johan at Baiturrahman Mosque

He has been working at Banda Aceh’s iconic mosque Baiturrahman for 31 years, first as an intern and
now as the technical head, and saw how it survived the huge double tragedy of earthquake and
tsunami.

Built in 1292, it was rebuilt during the Dutch colonialism after a major fire in 1873.

Unlike most buildings in Aceh, the mosque emerged from the tsunami with only minor cracks in the
walls and a broken fence.

“The mosque is sturdy. The foundation is solid, the tiles made by strong Italian marble. The main
building was built 2m from the ground and therefore the water only reached the steps of the
mosque,” he said.

As a result of the tsunami, new buildings in Aceh were better constructed, Mr Johan said.

“I think a lot of buildings are now better built because we know Aceh is prone to disasters,” he said.

Aceh tsunami 11

Two Indonesian soldiers stand guard in front of Baiturrahman mosque, three weeks after the
powerful quake and tidal wave hit Aceh province in Banda Aceh, on Jan 16, 2005. (File photo:
AFP/Adek Berry)

READ: Avengers to the rescue: Volunteers educate Indonesians on disaster preparedness

FROM GUERILLA FIGHTER TO CONSTRUCTION WORKER

For Mr Hanafiah, the 2004 Aceh tsunami has indirectly changed his life - for the better.

Puffing on a cigarette at a food stall in Aceh Besar recently, the 40-year-old told CNA he was a
guerilla fighter of the now dissolved Aceh separatist group Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) or Free
Aceh Movement.

Having joined the GAM in 1999 when he was 20 years old, Mr Hanafiah, who goes by one name, was
in the mountains of Cot Keueng when he witnessed the powerful tsunami ripping through Aceh
Besar regency.
Aceh rebel fighter Hanafiah

Mr Hanafiah was a member of the Free Aceh Movement for five years. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)

“I heard a loud bang. I thought it was our group fighting against the military. Battles were quite
common in those days, so we were used to hearing loud bangs.

“But the sound was bigger than usual and so I thought, it must’ve been a big battle,” he said.

Curious, Mr Hanafiah and his friends came out from their hiding place to check on the situation.

“The whole city was white and inundated in water … My immediate thought was, my parents are
dead,” he said.

Aceh tsunami 3

This photo taken Dec 27, 2004 shows local residents in Banda Aceh carrying away the body of a dead
relative the day after a devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake flattened the area. (File photo: AFP)

The rebel group decided to descend from the mountains a week later and Mr Hanafiah found his
wife and three-month-old child in an evacuation shelter.

One month later, the Red Cross found the body of his father. His mother and two nephews were
never found and were presumed dead.

Mr Hanafiah and his family went on to live in a shelter for almost two years.

Now working as a temporary highway construction worker, he has left the GAM life behind him, with
only battle scars - caused by gunshot wounds and surgeries - serving as evidence of his guerrilla days.

(ks) Hanafiah GAM fighter

Mr Hanafiah was shot three times in a shootout in 1999. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)

GAM, founded in 1976, was a separatist group fighting for Aceh’s independence as it disagreed with
the government on Islamic laws, historical perceptions and the management of the province’s
natural resources, especially oil and gas.

In its heyday, GAM had 27,000 members, a result of active recruitment drive through sermons in
mosques.
Due to its fights, Aceh has seen insurgencies for years, with Acehnese living with regular guerrilla
wars.

READ: Palu quake provides a shot at redemption for Indonesian prisoners

POST-TSUNAMI ACEH

Following the tsunami, GAM was unofficially dissolved as everyone was busy rebuilding their lives.

Aceh tsunami 13

An Acehnese man and two children depart after a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the
Helsinki peace agreement between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group and the Indonesian
government in Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman mosque located in Aceh province on Aug 15, 2015. In the
nearly 30 years of conflict, fighting between rebels and Indonesian government forces left about
15,000 people dead -- with abuses committed by both sides -- before the 2004 tsunami finally
persuaded GAM and Jakarta to strike a peace deal on Aug 15, 2005 in Helsinki. (File photo:
AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Eight months after the tsunami, the Indonesian government and GAM leaders signed a peace
agreement in Finland on Aug 15, 2005 to cease all hostilities with immediate effect.

On Dec 27 the same year, GAM leaders announced they had also disbanded their military wing.

Aceh tsunami 15

Former rebel leaders from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who are now government officials,
release doves during a symbolic ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Helsinki peace
agreement between the rebel group and the Indonesian government in Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman
mosque located in Aceh province on Aug 15, 2015. In the nearly 30 years of conflict, fighting
between rebels and Indonesian government forces left about 15,000 people dead - with abuses
committed by both sides - before the 2004 tsunami finally persuaded GAM and Jakarta to strike a
peace deal on Aug 15, 2005 in Helsinki. (File photo: AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Mr Hanafiah said he could not decide which was more difficult: having almost died from the
gunshots in shootouts, or losing his parents in the tsunami.

But one thing was sure. “The tsunami finally brought peace to Aceh, and now things are better,” he
said.
Mr Bahri, the civil servant, agreed. Looking back at the pre-tsunami Aceh, he said the province is
now in a better condition.

“It is more advanced, even compared to the time before the tsunami because with the insurgencies,
there was no real development.”