Chilling footage captures the moment that a giant wave crashed a live show by Jakarta pop band ‘Seventeen,’ as a tsunami wreaked havoc in Indonesia. One band member died and several are missing.
The video, which lasts less than a minute, shows a packed audience at the Tanjung Lesung Beach Resort in West Java, which overlooks the Krakatoa volcano.
Revelers can be seen seated at tables, applauding as they dine, oblivious to what is about to happen. Moments later, band members and screaming spectators are seen being washed away as a wave appears from nowhere and pounds the stage.
In a tearful video posted in the aftermath of the incident, the band’s lead singer Riefian Fajarsyah said that one band member, bassist Muhammad Awal Purbani, 36, nicknamed Bani, and their road manager Oki Wijaya had died. Fajarsyah said his wife, Dylan, the two remaining band members and a crew member were still missing.
“Andi, Herman and Ujang have not been found, please pray for them. Please pray also that my wife will be found soon. Please pray also for Bani and Oki (who passed away),” the inconsolable Fajarsyah said in an Instagram post, as translated by Channel News Asia.
For his wife’s 26th birthday on Sunday, Fajarsyah posted a picture of the couple in Paris on Instagram along with a heartbreaking caption urging her to come home.
At least 281 people have died and over 1,000 have been injured after the tsunami ripped through the area in western Indonesia, off the coast of Sumatra. Twenty eight people are still missing.
Officials said that the tsunami was triggered by a combination of factors, in particular by volcanic activity at the Krakatoa volcano and an abnormally high tide due to a full moon.
Meanwhile, the death toll is expected to climb further as some remote areas are still being searched for survivors.
“This number will continue to rise, considering [that] not all places have been checked,” said National Disaster Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
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