Indonesians Seek Talismans of Former Lives in Quake Rubble

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18 October 2018 08:33 WIB

Hesti Andayani, 27, sits on a pile of tiles that she says used to be part of her second-floor bedroom after her home was destroyed by an earthquake, in Balaroa neighbourhood, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 10, 2018. Andayani lost her younger sister in the quake. Returning to Balaroa for the first time, nearly two weeks after disaster struck, she was shocked to find that her childhood home had slid downhill, far from its original spot. "It took so long for me to find it," she said, through tears. "I don't know where we can live now." REUTERS/Jorge Silva

18 Oktober 2018 00:00 WIB

A woman holds a stuffed rabbit toy after it was found at her destroyed house where she said she had lost her three children after the area was hit by an earthquake, in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 7, 2018. Wooden beams tilted at crazy angles poke out of piles of shattered concrete littered with battered motorbikes and household items, from crumpled pots and pans to smudged notebooks and soft toys. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

18 Oktober 2018 00:00 WIB

Two men recover a portrait of their dead parents from the rubble of their former house hit by an earthquake in Balaroa neighbourhood in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 7, 2018. As many as 5,000 people may still be buried under the mud, disaster relief officials estimate. Indonesia called off the search for victims on Friday, two weeks after the quake, citing health concerns, despite residents' pleas to continue. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

18 Oktober 2018 00:00 WIB

Darmi, 48, and her brother Rusli, 43, stand outside her destroyed house hit by an earthquake as they look for clothes and other belongings in the rubble, in Balaroa neighbourhood, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 10, 2018. The two-storey building collapsed. Darmi was in her kitchen cooking, with her older sister, her sister's two children, and three grandchildren in the house when the earthquake struck. They ran out of the house and headed for the hills as the ground started to give way beneath them. All of them are safe. "We were lucky because the soil pushed our house upwards. There were some houses here that just collapsed into the ground... It felt like the earth was alive. It was opening up, swallowing people, and then closing again. And the noise was so loud. This loud cracking 'k-k-k-k' sound," said Darmi. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

18 Oktober 2018 00:00 WIB

Kaharuddin, 40, waits for excavators to dig up a pile of concrete that used to be his home and was destroyed by an earthquake in Balaroa neighbourhood, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 10, 2018. Kaharuddin believes under the rubble may be the body of his one-year-old daughter. The remains of his wife, Hastuti, were found under the debris four days after the quake, still holding the bodies of two of their other daughters, aged 4 and 2. "I don't know what to do next. There's nothing left for me here," said Kaharuddin. "I'm just going to wait and hope they find my child. Or maybe I have to accept that one will have to remain buried here." REUTERS/Jorge Silva

18 Oktober 2018 00:00 WIB

Juliana Lasarudin, 48, stands next to her car in front of her destroyed house after it was hit by an earthquake, in Balaroa neighbourhood in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, October 9, 2018. Wooden beams tilted at crazy angles poke out of piles of shattered concrete littered with battered motorbikes and household items, from crumpled pots and pans to smudged notebooks and soft toys. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

18 Oktober 2018 00:00 WIB