Lethal tsounami hits Indonesia again, tourists were killed

Asia-Pacific

Tsunami hits Indonesia once again after 2004 killing 550 people so far according to official reports. Many tourists are among the victims and many are still missing. The Indonesian government, the rescue teams are…

Tsunami hits Indonesia once again after 2004 killing 550 people so far according to official reports. Many tourists are among the victims and many are still missing. The Indonesian government, the rescue teams are still trying to find alives under the ruins while the missing people nearly count 275.

Officials from the government`s national disaster coordinating board reported that 54.000 are being displaced.

The four metre waves have destroyed hotels, boats cars. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.7 at the Richter scale creating lethal Tsunami devastating the Java coast.

Foreign tourists among the dead

A 50 years old unidentified foreign tourist has been found dead at Pangandaran Beach in Ciamis, West Java. The police who made the discovery on July 18 didn’t found identity papers on him. The man was 1.80 m tall and had red hair. Red Cross volunteers took the body to the nearest hospital.

Five Australian tourists were reported to have survived the disaster in Pangandaran after they fled up a hill from the tsunami. Officials from the Australian Embassy have evacuated them from the area. Meanwhile three Dutch tourists are still missing in Pangandaran.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the Mayor of Ciamis District, Engkon Komara, to immediately execute strategic steps: evacuation of victims and casualties in the affected areas; rescuing all the victims to safer platforms; provision of medical aids, doctors, nurses, food, and other necessary supply.

The Indonesian Government said in its official statement, “Indonesia is a vast country with various and extensive tourist destinations. The recent quake and tsunami is confined in several particular areas, not the whole nation. We still have Bali as a leading tourist destination and Yogyakarta is now picking up the pace for this coming holiday season. We also have North Sumatra and many other tourist destinations in the archipelago.”

Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism site report on 18 July 2006:

Current situation in Pangandaran Beach, West Java, Indonesia. Monitoring and Coordination in Disaster Relief Post powered by the Mayor of Ciamis. District and Culture and Tourism Regional Office in Ciamis District.

As of July 18th 2006, at 11 pm, western Indonesia time zone, we have gathered the following:

Casualties

#	District	Injured		Dead	Lost
#	District	Mild	Severe	Dead	Lost
1.	Ciamis (including Pangadaran Beach)	339	180	241	84
2.	Tasikmalaya	58	24	78	20
3.	Garut	2	0	1	0
Total		*399*	*204*	*320*	*104*

At the time of disaster, there were 7 foreign tourists in Pangandaran Beach. Two (2) of them were reported dead and

one (1) was injured. Three of them are from the Saudi Arabia. The rest of them (4) are from France and Sweden, and

reported safe.

Two family members of the Culture and Tourism Regional Office were reported dead (a wife and a child).

Loss of Tourism Infrastructures and Facilities

Based on a site inspection done by the assigned commission, many tourist facilities are severely destroyed, especially

within the range of 0-150 meters from the water line. The tsunami was reported to reach 3-5 meter high and left the

buildings and other facilities into remnants. Electricity and water supply are being repaired, including the telephone

lines.

Tourist facilities and other buildings further than 150 meter from water line are safe and completely unaffected.

Accommodation

Out of 114 hotels in Pangandaran Beach, 41 of them are severely destroyed (two 3-star rated hotels and the rest are

small-size hotels). There are also hotels outside Pangandaran Beach and also destroyed. Three (3) of them in Batu

Karas, and one (1) in Batu Hiu. Small family-run homestays are unaffected due to their location, which is

approximately 200 meters inland. No single hotel is running a business at the moment.

Restaurants

There are three (3) restaurants destroyed in western peninsula of Pangandaran, and sixteen (16) in eastern peninsula.

Kiosks

Ciamis Trade and Industry Regional Office reported that there are at least 1,200 kiosks were destroyed, consisted of

food stalls, souvenir stalls, beach apparel stalls, fish and marine product stalls, and rental stalls.

Other tourism facilities

Three beach monitoring towers were destroyed, along with rubber boats, ‘torpedos’, and ‘malibus’. Information centers,

communication equipments, and a beach security vehicle were also destroyed. Seventy two (72) boats were reported

missing and destroyed. Other damages were spotted on public lavatory, shower rooms, information center, performing

stage, flower garden, and side-walk.

Cultural assets

There are no destroyed cultural assets in the area.

Camps and Shelters

The local government has allocated seven (7) safe platforms for the homeless.

Culture and Tourism Post

The local government has collaborated with the Culture and Tourism Regional Office to open a 24-hour post at Kidang

Pananjung and provide telephone line (+62 265 639 185). The activities accomplished by the workers and volunteers are

evacuation, distribution of logistics, identification of cultural and tourism assets, information dissemination, and

coordination with the main post.

Suggested Rescue and Relief

Beach Clean-Up.
Traumatic Relief incurred by the victims through official statement from government and Indonesian Meteorology and

Geophysics Bureau.
Image recovery though media involvements and tourism events, both nationally and internationally.
Re-arrangement of settlements with banks for tourism related businesses.
Provision of tourism facilities, especially for beach safety infrastructures and public facilities.

Month	Foreign Tourists	Domestic Tourist
January	266	28,936
February	291	6,811
March	441	17,710
April	328	40,219
May	580	28,084
June	631	39,355
Total	*2,537*	*161,115*