The Bodies Of 2 Indonesian Citizens Victims Of Turkish Earthquake Were Returned To Indonesia On 22 February

Documentation - The National Police's DVI team managed to identify the bodies of two Indonesian citizens (WNI) who were victims of the earthquake in Turkey. ANTARA/HO-Polri

DENPASAR - The bodies of two Indonesian citizens (WNI) victims of the Turkish earthquake are scheduled to return to their homeland on February 22.

Two victims, namely Irma Lestari and Ni Wayan Supini, were found dead under the rubble of the Galeria Apartment, Dyarbakir City, Turkey, Friday (17/2).

"We are all deeply saddened. God willing, with the confirmation of the bodies of our two sisters, the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will immediately try to return the bodies to their respective hometowns," said Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey Lalu Muhammad Iqbal as reported by ANTARA, Sunday, 19 February.

Search efforts for Irma Lestari and Ni Wayan Supini have been ongoing since a magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked Turkey on February 6.

However, until the third day after the earthquake (8/2), the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara announced that the status of the two Indonesian citizens "could not be contacted".

The evacuation team, led by Kombes Pol. Budi Wardiman, continues to track the whereabouts of Irma and Wayan Supini in Dyarbakir while evacuating 20 Indonesian citizens in the city and Malatya.

Then, search efforts were focused on the ruins of the Galeria Apartment in Dyarbakir, which is where the late Irma Lestari and Ni Wayan Supini lived while working in Turkey.

The joint team of the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara and the Indonesian Search and Rescue (Inasar) from Basarnas, led by the Director for Protection of Indonesian Citizens, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Judha Nugraha, came directly to Dyarbakir to help AFAD (Turkish Disaster Management Agency) search for the bodies of victims in the ruins of the Galeria Residence Apartment on Thursday (16/2).

The bodies of the two Indonesian citizens were found on Friday and immediately identified by the DVI Team at the National Police Headquarters in Hatay, Turkey. The identification results also confirmed the identities of the two Indonesian citizens' bodies as Irma Lestari and Ni Wayan Supini.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey immediately contacted the victim's family, both of whom are in Bali.

The family of the late Irma Lestari confirmed that they were contacted directly by Ambassador Iqbal, Saturday (18/2).

"The one who informed the Indonesian Embassy last night was Mr. Iqbal," said Irma Lestari's mother, Rena, who was met at her residence in Denpasar, Bali, Sunday evening.

Rena and Atmari, Irma's stepfather, have been trying to find news from the victims since they watched news of the earthquake in Turkey on television on February 6. However, for about 10 days, their efforts have not met with results.

Rena finally received news of her daughter's death directly from Ambassador Iqbal, Saturday, 18 February.

"This (Irma's body) has been washed," said Rena, who admitted that she received a video of Irma's corpse from the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara.

She said Irma's body would first land in Jakarta, then be flown to Lombok, to be buried in the land of her birth.

Rena continued to say that Irma left behind a husband and two children, aged 9 and 10 respectively.

She and Irma's husband and children plan to leave for Lombok on Tuesday (21/2) to take part in the funeral procession.

Meanwhile, Ni Wayan Supini's family in Klungkung has also received sad news, one of which is from BP3MI Bali which has coordinated with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara.

Head of BP3MI Bali Anak Agung Gde Indra Hardiawan said in Denpasar on Sunday that his party had conveyed the sad news directly to the victim's husband, who was accompanied by the victim's brother-in-law.