Pop Band Seventeen Swept Away in Tsunami in Indonesia, Video Shows

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Video footage shows the moment a tsunami hit a beach concert in Indonesia, leaving band members dead or missing, on Dec. 22.

The band appears to be finishing a song when the stage vanishes as it is overtaken by water. Members of the audience and band scream as the stage is brought down due to the water.

Seventeen’s lead singer Riefian Fajarsyah wrote on social media on Dec. 23 that his wife and the band’s drummer are still missing. He paid a tribute to the band’s manager and bassist, who reportedly died.

“I just want to say that our bass player Bani and our manager Oki Wijaya passed away,” Fajarsyah said while crying, according to CNN. “Please pray that we can find Andi, Herman, and Ujang and my wife,” he added. The band was in the middle of a show organized by Indonesia’s state-run electric company. They were apparently unaware of the tsunami.

“Underwater I could only pray,” Zack, a crew member of  Seventeen, said on Instagram.

“In the final seconds I almost ran out of breath,” he said, adding that he held onto a collapsed part of the stage to survive the ordeal, reported Channel News Asia.

“We were shocked because a lot of the people who went there took their families,” Yulia Dian, a manager for the band, told the outlet in Jakarta.

“They'd been sharing stories they were having fun at the beach and we didn’t expect this.”

A broken jet ski is seen among debris after a tsunami hit Tanjung Lesung beach in Banten, Indonesia, Dec. 23, 2018.Antara Foto/Akbar Nugroho Gumay/ via Reuters

There was no earthquake associated with the tsunami, and it was likely caused by a combination of underwater landslides due to a volcanic eruption, the BBC reported, citing government officials. The hardest hit area was the Sunda Strait.

Red Cross official Kathy Mueller told the news outlet, “There is debris littering the ground, crushed cars, crushed motorcycles, we’re seeing buildings that are collapsed.” The road into Pandeglang was seriously damaged, hampering rescue and recovery efforts.

Officials said more than 160 people died in Pandeglang, and another 48 died in South Lampung on Sumatra. Deaths were reported elsewhere.

Coastal residents reported not seeing or feeling any warning signs on Saturday night, such as receding water or an earthquake, before waves of 2-3 meters (6-10 feet) washed ashore, according to media. Authorities said a warning siren went off in some areas, Reuters reported.

Oystein Lund Andersen, a Norwegian tourist, was in Anyer town with his family when the tsunami struck.

“I had to run, as the wave passed the beach and landed 15-20 meters inland. Next wave entered the hotel area where I was staying and downed cars on the road behind it,” he told Reuters.

Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, Indonesia. Screenshot/Google Maps

Officials told residents and tourists in coastal areas around the Sunda Strait to stay away from beaches and a high-tide warning remains in place through Dec. 25.

“Those who have evacuated, please do not return yet,” said Rahmat Triyono, who is an official at the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.

Residents collect debris from their collapsed house after it was hit by a tsunami at Panimbang district in Pandeglang, Banten province, Indonesia, Dec. 23, 2018.
Antara Foto/Muhammad Bagus Khoirunas/ via Reuters

Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate to higher ground. By late afternoon on Sunday, the disaster agency had raised the death toll to 222, with 843 injured and 28 missing.

This year the vast archipelago, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, has suffered its worst death toll from disasters in over a decade.

Earthquakes flattened parts of the tourist island of Lombok in July and August, and a double quake-and-tsunami killed more than 2,000 people on Sulawesi island in September.

An aerial view of Anak Krakatau volcano during an eruption at Sunda strait in South Lampung, Indonesia, December 23, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Bisnis Indonesia/Nurul Hidayat/ via REUTERS

Authorities warned residents and tourists in coastal areas around the Sunda Strait to stay away from beaches and a high-tide warning remained in place until Dec. 25 as officials evaluate the risks and try to determine the exact cause of the disaster.

President Joko Widodo also stated he “ordered all relevant government agencies to immediately take emergency response measures, find victims and care for the injured”.

Reuters contributed to this report.