It Seemed Like The End Of The World : M'sian student on Merapi

Death toll 122 at last count

SOLO - “It seemed like the end of the world had come,” was how a Malaysian medical student at Universiti Gadjah Mada (UGM), Jogyakarta, described Mount Merapi’s devastating eruption yesterday.

Yesterday’s massive eruption, said to be the worst in a century, raised the death toll since Merapi first erupted on Oct 26 to over 90 people and left scores of others injured.

The eruption yesterday was so powerful that it left Jogyakarta, the nearest big city located some 26km from the volcano, to be smothered in volcanic ash.

“It was so frightening, vehicles and buildings were blanketed in inches of white ash, as though they had not been washed in years.

“It seemed like only I and a friend were the survivors when we were walking in campus heading for our 6.45pm class,” said Srijesh Sobha Kumar, 20, who is from Kepong, Selangor.

The first year student said a short while later he received a SMS on his handphone asking all Malaysian students at the university to get ready to be sent back home (to Malaysia) in the interest of their safety.

He said this made him more worried but with the help of a friend made his way back to his hostel on a motorcycle and only became relieved when the rest of the Malaysians were waiting for him to evacuate the campus.

“At midnight on Deepavali eve, we were cutting a cake when we heard non-stop thunderous sounds in the sky followed by what seemed to be the sound of stones dropping on the roof of our hostel.

“Local folklore said this would be followed by earthquakes, all of us were very frightened,” he said in relating their experience the past hours to Bernama here today.

He and the rest of the Malaysian students studying in Yogyakarta and neighbouring areas were evacuated to here to board a Royal Malaysian Navy aircraft to be brought home until the safety situation returned to normal.

Another Malaysian student Nur Taufiqah Idris, 22, from Greenwood, Gombak, Selangor, said she was glad to go home.

“We had been ready since Merapi first erupted on Oct 26 and showered volcanic ash all around. We became fearful as to our safety,” she said.

Meanwhile, William Chin Jian Wei, 22, a Malaysian student leader in Jogyakarta, said the Jogyakarta branch of the Malaysian Students Association, Indonesia had put in place an effective communication network to keep each other informed of developments and steps to take in any eventuality.

The fourth-year medical student at UGM said the SMS system had served them well in these trying circumstances.

Jogyakarta Umno Club president Mohd Hafiezulniezam Mohd Hasdin, 25, who was also present, said a total of 386 Malaysian students in the province would be returning home early tomorrow morning.

Chin said, however, 21 Malaysian medical students had elected to stay back in Solo until the situation returned to normal as they were tied down with clinical duties. — Bernama