Hunt for survivors as Indonesian tsunami death toll tops 280
Carita (Indonesia), Dec 24: Indonesian rescuers battled heavy rains Monday in a desperate search for survivors after a volcano-triggered tsunami killed at least 281 people, with experts warning the devastated region could be slammed by more tidal waves.
The national disaster agency said casualty figures were set to rise as it issued the fresh death toll -- up from a previous 222 -- and said more than 50 people were still missing.
Over 1,000 were injured in the disaster on Saturday evening, the agency added.
"The number of victims and damage will continue to rise," said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
Rescue teams used diggers and other heavy equipment to haul debris from the stricken area around the Sunda Strait on Monday, as thousands were evacuated from the affected region.
"The military and police are searching the ruins to see if we can find more victims," said Dody Ruswandi, a senior official at the disaster agency, adding that the rescue effort was likely to last a week.
Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java around 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Saturday after a volcano known as the "child" of the legendary Krakatoa erupted.
The destructive wave left a trail of uprooted trees and debris strewn across beaches.
A tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber and rubble was dragged inland at Carita beach, a popular spot for day-trippers on the west coast of Java.
Dramatic video posted on social media showed a wall of water suddenly crashing into a concert by pop group "Seventeen" -- hurling band members off the stage and then flooding into the audience.
Two band members were killed along with its manager, while three others, including the lead singer's wife, are missing.
Dozens of victims were killed on the Sumatran coast.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo was scheduled to visit the area Monday, less than three months after a quake-tsunami killed thousands of people around the city of Palu on Sulawesi island.
The vast archipelago nation is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth due to its position straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.
Experts have said that Saturday's rare volcano-sparked tsunami could have been caused by an underwater collapse of part of the volcano.
Anak Krakatoa, which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, emerged around 1928 in the crater left by Krakatoa, whose massive eruption in 1883 killed at least 36,000 people and affected global weather patterns for years.
"The likelihood of further tsunamis in the Sunda Strait will remain high while Anak Krakatoa volcano is going through its current active phase because that might trigger further submarine landslides," said Richard Teeuw of the University of Portsmouth in England.
Unlike those caused by earthquakes, which trigger alert systems, these tsunamis give authorities very little time to warn residents of the impending threat.
"It happened very quickly," said survivor Ade Junaedi.
"I was chatting with a guest at our place when my wife opened the door and she suddenly screamed in panic. I thought there was a fire, but when I walked to the door I saw the water coming."
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the "powerful waves" reached a height of 30-90 centimetres (1-3 feet).
Oxfam and other international aid agencies said they would help in the aftermath, as local rescuers evacuated the injured and set up tarpaulins to provide shelter.
"It's already raining heavily and the winds are strong so we've only got a short timeframe to evacuate people and clean up," said Indonesia's public works minister Basuki Hadimuljono.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
