Water Changes Mourning And Explosions Become The Beginning Of The Natuna Serasan Landslide

SAR officers evacuate landslides on Sarena Island, Natuna, Riau Islands. (doc BNPB)

NATUNA - A landslide disaster victim on Serasan Island, Natuna Regency, Riau Islands Province, Kailan (77) stated that he heard a rumbling sound accompanied by an explosion, before the landslide that killed his son-in-law occurred on Monday, March 6.

"At dawn I came out of the house, it was flooded as high as an adult's ankle. I saw that in the morning the water was still clear, not long after that the water suddenly became cloudy. One of my friends said it was a sign that there would be a landslide," Kailan said when met at his family's house on Jalan Karet, Pontianak, West Kalimantan (West Kalimantan), Wednesday, March 8.

Kailan is one of the victims of a landslide in Serasan. Kailan, who was the mother-in-law of Susi (41), a victim who broke her neck and died on the way to Pontianak.

A number of landslide victims were evacuated to Pontianak using the Bukit Raya Ship. In addition, there were victims with severe fractures, several others suffered minor injuries and trauma. Pontianak is a reference for treating victims of the Serasan landslide disaster, considering the availability of adequate hospital facilities and a fairly close distance from the disaster site.

Kailan explained, before the landslide, the rainfall was quite high. Then at around 11.00 WIB, there was a rumbling sound and explosion on the back hill of a resident's house. This happened before the landslide material and the overflow of water hit the house.

"My position was sitting in a shop, suddenly there was a rumbling sound and an explosion accompanied by smoke from the hill, not long after a landslide occurred," he said, quoted by Antara.

He added that the landslide that hit Serasan Island was the first time this had happened in his life, so no one thought it would happen.

Meanwhile, Dian, Susi's nephew, stated that his aunt died on the way to Pontianak while boarding the Bukit Raya Ship. Susi's victim was originally going to undergo treatment at the Pontianak hospital, but about three hours before arriving at Dwikora Port Pontianak, he died.

Dian said his aunt suffered a fracture in the neck due to being crushed by the rubble of a house and motorbike.

"So yesterday, the deceased (Susi) together with her husband, in-laws, in-laws, and children accompanied by one nurse were transported by ship to Pontianak after receiving a referral from the Serasan Island Health Center. But while on the way, the victim died, because his condition was severe," he said.

He added that the victim's child, Napisa (9) suffered a broken leg as a result of being crushed by the rubble of the house. Napisa is currently being treated at the Soedarso Hospital in Pontianak and has received surgery.

Susi is a native of Natuna. However, his body will be buried in Pontianak based on a request from his family.

"Because now Serasan is also not conducive, so the family asks to be buried here. So, after Zuhur was released, the deceased was buried after the arrival of her children who attended Batam and Yogyakarta who came to Pontianak," he said.