Monday, December 24, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Govt Won’t Punish Health Officer Probed For Criticizing Training Course

Posted: 24 Dec 2018 05:09 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — A senior public health officer who was placed under investigation by a team of top officials for criticizing a civil servant training event on social media will not be punished, Myanmar's health minister said.

Dr. Soe Thuya Zaw, head of dental health at the  Mogok Township Public Health Department in Mandalay Region, was placed under investigation last week after criticizing the rules and regulations that trainees need to follow, pointing out the faults of lecturers and claiming the training was a waste of government money.

The dentist attended a compulsory training session for mid-level civil servants at the northern branch of the Central Institute of the Civil Service in Zee Pin Gyi, a town near Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay, from October to early December. He shared a series of posts on his Facebook page about his experiences at the event. He said one lecturer had accused the government of lacking enthusiasm for the national peace process and that another discouraged them from marrying or buying things from non-Buddhists, Muslims especially, because they posed a threat to monogamous Buddhists.

His posts went viral and attracted much discussions online about the trainings being conducted by the Central Institute of the Civil Service, which was once widely regarded as a system for teaching government employees military doctrine and giving them military training. Those who commented on Dr. Soe Thuya Zaw’s investigation mostly condemned it and stood by the doctor.

On Monday, Health Minister Myint Htwe told The Irrawaddy that the ministry would not take any action against the dentist.

"He is a disciplined civil servant. We won't take action against those who give their service to the people," he said.

The minister added that the investigation was authorized by a deputy director general and directors without a prior, mandatory review of the allegations, and that the ministry would take “proper measures” against them without elaborating.

Founded in 1965 under the military regime of Ne Win, the Central People's Service Training School in Phaunggyi, on the outskirts of Yangon, was intended to train civil servants in socialist ideology. Basic military training was also included for a time so that they could be called on in case of war with Myanmar’s power neighbors, namely India and China.

The school was transformed into an institute in 1977 and later renamed the Central Institute of the Civil Service. A second branch was established in Zee Pin Gyi to serve the north of the country.

The post Govt Won’t Punish Health Officer Probed For Criticizing Training Course appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Analysis: Four-Month Ceasefire Prompts Cautious Optimism

Posted: 24 Dec 2018 04:44 AM PST

Positive news came at the end of the year with the military's announcement of a temporary ceasefire effective in conflict areas in the north and northeast of Myanmar which prompted notes of welcome from some ethnic leaders and observers. The unprecedented move has been hailed as a constructive gesture but is also met with cautious optimism prompting further questions among ethnic groups. Kachin, Karen and Karenni groups have welcomed the news but have collectively called for a nationwide ceasefire.

The ceasefire order covers the Northern Command in Kachin State, the Northeastern, Eastern and Central Eastern commands and the Triangle Command in Shan State. Despite recent outbreaks of fighting between the Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine State, the ceasefire order does not cover Rakhine State, home of the Rohingya crisis and where the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) are said to operate. This decision upsets the AA leaders. However, the military leaders' strategic thinking is to deter ARSA and threat of migration along the border with Bangladesh.

Over the past few months, the government and military held a number of informal talks with three armed groups in Kunming, China including the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army. These three are part of a four-member military coalition, the Northern Alliance. The talks have had their ups and downs, but in recent months some progress has been made.

It was reported that at a Dec. 12 meeting held in China with members of the government's Peace Commission, three groups—the MNDAA, the TNLA and the AA—pledged to lay down their arms and seek political resolutions to conflicts.

Following this gesture, the military-backed down on its six-point policy, saying that all ethnic armed organizations need only to comply with four of them: "to respect the agreements, not to exploit the peace agreements, not to burden local residents and to abide by the existing laws."

The two policy points omitted are "to have a keen desire to reach eternal peace" and "to march towards a democratic country in accord with the 2008 Constitution."

This change of stance will no doubt allow for more open and constructive dialogue at the discussion table—but not at the frontline.

The Arakan Army remains to be the concern. The AA was established in northern Myanmar but has now moved to northern Rakhine territory and is actively recruiting more soldiers on the ground there. AA members are estimated to be around 5,000 in number and the group claims to receive overseas funding from the diaspora, tax and black market trade. In fact, powerful Wa leaders are behind the AA and China has a certain influence over both the Wa and AA.

The United League for Arakan is the political wing of the AA and aims to implement "Rakhita," meaning to build an independent Rakhine State and achieve self-determination.

There have been clashes between the Myanmar Army and the AA in recent weeks in northern Rakhine State. The military is accused of employing helicopter gunships and fighting is likely to intensify in the area in spite of the ceasefire in the north.

The real concern is that some top army generals suspect the AA is in contact with ARSA and it is believed that both are involved in the lucrative drug trafficking trade.

During talks between the government and the AA, questions on the latter's stance on ARSA has been raised. The generals in Naypyitaw want to see the AA taking a tough stance against ARSA and helping to deter their threat. "If the AA genuinely wanted to protect its Rakhine kingdom," as a senior officer put it, "they must not communicate with ARSA."

Political observers familiar with the situation on the ground said the leaders of the AA will not take any soft stance on ARSA and they will not tolerate their existence.

ARSA is regarded as a terrorist armed group in Myanmar and the army is determined to continue to hunt down ARSA members in northern Rakhine State.

In July and August 2017, ARSA insurgents killed several dozen civilians and village headmen in northern Rakhine State and on August 25, they launched attacks on police and security outposts.

The army sent out about 2,000 reinforcement troops and launched a clearance operation across the northern part of the state, driving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya living in that area to the Bangladesh border.

In August this year, a damning UN report accused the military of genocide against the Rohingya and accusing the army of war crimes and crimes against humanity and against minorities across the country.

It called for Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague for the crackdown that drove over 800,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh and for the alleged crimes committed by security forces in other ethnic areas.

In an effort to reduce mounting international pressure, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing called the temporary ceasefire in the north, earning himself some praise.

But he probably doesn't lose sleep over it. At his recent meeting with members of the Myanmar Press Council, the commander-in-chief showed who is the real boss: he is media savvy and up to date with current affairs—he impressed the press corps and treated them with respect. The irony remains, however, that in the recent past the army was behind the detention and charging of several reporters and journalists.

Suspicion lingers over his motives, however. Some ethnic leaders believe the army is buying time to recharge itself before it strikes again after the ceasefire period is over. And it will. Often when the monsoon season rains ease off, the military launches offensives in ethnic regions, but this time they called a truce. Top ranking generals said that ethnic leaders would appreciate this gesture, but many ethnic leaders remain wary and some are hoping to reopen peace talks.

Leaders of ethnic armed groups also have a continued frustration with government heads, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the peace commission team. They complain that the government doesn't understand the grievances of the ethnic struggle and accuse them of not being proactive and of condescension. They found the previous government led by former president U Thein Sein and the previous peace team more receptive.

It is likely that after the four-month ceasefire, the military will take a tougher stance towards the remaining armed groups who refuse to enter ceasefire talks and have shown no real interest in reaching a ceasefire before 2020.

China has also been a key player in recent ceasefire talks with several meetings held in Kunming, Yunnan Province which borders Myanmar's Kachin and Shan states.

In November, Song Tao, minister of the international department of the Communist Party of China had a meeting with Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw and the meeting produced some positive outcomes according to inside sources: a top-ranking general remarked "relations are much better."

Indeed, China holds a key to Myanmar's peace process. In recent meetings, China pushed the members of the Northern Alliance to be more pragmatic with the Myanmar government and military.

Chinese special envoy to Myanmar Sun Guoxiang also reportedly warned Arakan Army leaders not to have any links with ARSA. China suspected that ARSA members reached out to Uighurs, a Muslim minority mostly based in Xinjiang, northwest China. Some radical Uighurs have carried out terrorist attacks in recent years and in 2009, ethnic riots resulted in hundreds of deaths in the region. China is greatly concerned by the threat of Uighur separatism and extremism and has long feared that Uighurs will attempt to establish their own national homeland in Xinjiang.

With growing challenges and impending international intervention in northern Rakhine, it is no surprise that China and Myanmar leaders are seeing eye to eye in order to maintain some stability in the state.

Whatever the case, in the next four months, if talks are going to be successful, bilateral ceasefires with some ethnic groups in the north are necessary. The ongoing talks with Wa leaders have been seen to produce some good outcomes so far.

But there has been uncertainty with leaders of Kachin ethnic armed groups. Top Myanmar military leaders claim to have solid proof that there are foreign elements playing a role behind the scenes to disrupt the peace process but they haven't named any names. They also suspect that the same group recently approached Karen and Shan insurgents in the south to stir up more tension and misunderstanding between them. However, both the military and government leaders are hoping that Kachin leaders will be pragmatic as they signed a ceasefire in 1994 under the previous military government. The Kachin were one of the earliest ethnic armed groups to sign a ceasefire agreement and participated in the national convention at which military representative's army and ethnic groups drafted the 2008 Constitution.

Peace won't be easy to achieve in Myanmar and the military's latest gesture shouldn't be taken lightly.

The post Analysis: Four-Month Ceasefire Prompts Cautious Optimism appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Arakanese Arrested for Intelligence Officer’s Murder, Beaten in Custody: Friends, Relatives

Posted: 24 Dec 2018 04:25 AM PST

YANGON — A member of the Arakan National Party (ANP) was arrested in Yangon on Dec. 15 in connection with the murder of a military intelligence officer and is in poor health after four days of interrogation by the Military Security Affairs Unit, according to a friend and a relative.

Ko Ni Aung Zaw, also known as Ko Ye Zaw, was arrested while attending an event with friends at the National Races Village in Thaketa Township and transferred to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, on Dec. 19, according to a friend who declined to be named for fear of reprisal from security forces.

The friend said he visited Ko Ye Zaw at the Sittwe Hospital, where he was receiving medical treatment and was shackled by the hands and feet. He said his friend was arrested as a suspect in the fatal shooting of Corporal Win Htike in Sittwe on Sept. 25.


Video footage shared with The Irrawaddy shows him being escorted to the hospital on Monday.

Ko Ye Zaw’s brother, Ko Aye Tun Oo, said Sittwe police are suing his sibling under Article 302 of the Penal Code for murder. He claimed that his brother was beaten with sticks while in custody, forced to stand for hours on end while being interrogated, and made to confess to shooting Cpl. Win Htike.

“Because of the pain and harsh interrogation both day and night, he is now seriously ill and receiving medical treatment at Sittwe Hospital,” said Ko Aye Tun Oo.

The Arakan Youth Conference (AYC) released a statement on the condition of Ko Ye Zaw, one of its members, on its Facebook page on Monday. It said Ko Ye Zaw had hypertension, jaundice and a backache. It said he received an x-ray exam at about 3 p.m. and that three police officers were stationed at the hospital to watch him.

The AYC sad Ko Ye Zaw was innocent of the crime and that he was traveling from Sittwe to Yangon when the shooting occurred.

Police in Sittwe arrested two AYC members and an ANP member in October in connection with the intelligence officer’s murder, but they were later released on bail by a court.

The ANP said it was trying to arrange a defense lawyer for Ko Ye Zaw.

The post Arakanese Arrested for Intelligence Officer’s Murder, Beaten in Custody: Friends, Relatives appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hundreds of Villagers Continue to Flee Fighting in Rakhine

Posted: 24 Dec 2018 12:14 AM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — More than 1,500 people across three townships in northern Rakhine State have been displaced by fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) since clashed broke out in October, according to local civil society groups.

The fighting in Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun and Buthidaung townships has intensified since late November.

Kyauktaw, where more than 1,000 people have fled their homes, has been hit hardest.

On Friday, more than 400 ethnic Khami in Kyauktaw fled Pinnyawa Village to the villages of Thalu Chaung, Taung Min Kalar, Kan Sauk and Nga Sarine Kine after artillery shells landed near their homes.

"Two artillery shells fell just about 20 yards from the village. So villagers did not dare to stay,” said U Wai Kyaw Sein, the administrator of Pinnyawa.

Locals reported hearing artillery fire through Saturday near the village. The AA blamed the shelling on the military, which it said had also attacked by air earlier.

On Tuesday, the entire population of Pyinnagyi fled the village following clashes near the border of Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships.

Most of the women and children in the area have fled their villages. Many of the men have stayed behind to mind their farms and cattle.

The military is inspecting all boats travelling between Pinnyawa and Thalu Chaung villages, including those transporting displaced families and relief supplies.

Civil society groups said boats ferrying relief supplies need permission from the state government or the township General Administration Department.

The Irrawaddy could not reach state security officials or Border Affairs Minister Colonel Phone Tint for comment on the reported boat inspections.

On Friday the military declared a unilateral four-month ceasefire, except in Rakhine State. Many have welcomed to move as a chance to make progress on the peace process.

In a joint statement on Dec. 12, the AA, Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army offered to suspend armed hostilities with the military for a chance to join the process. The government's Peace Commission welcomed the statement and said it would negotiate with all three armed groups in hopes of reaching bilateral ceasefire agreements with each.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Hundreds of Villagers Continue to Flee Fighting in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Digging Deep: Singapore Plans an Underground Future

Posted: 23 Dec 2018 08:52 PM PST

SINGAPORE—From its towering “supertree” vertical gardens to a Formula 1 night race, Singapore is known for many attractions; underground space is not one of them.

But that may soon change, as the city-state prepares to unveil an Underground Master Plan in 2019.

With some 5.6 million people in an area three-fifths the size of New York City—and with the population estimated to grow to 6.9 million by 2030—the island nation is fast running out of space.

Singapore has been reclaiming land for decades, but that is increasingly unsustainable due to rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change. So the city is going underground.

Singapore has already moved some infrastructure and utilities below ground, including train lines, retail, pedestrian walkways, a five-lane highway and air-conditioning cooling pipes. It also stores fuel and ammunition underground.

Now, the city wants to go further.

“Given Singapore’s limited land, we need to make better use of our surface land and systematically consider how to tap our underground space for future needs,” said Ler Seng Ann, a group director at the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

“Currently, our focus is on using underground space for utility, transport, storage and industrial facilities to free up surface land for housing, offices, community uses and greenery, to enhance livability,” he said.

The Underground Master Plan will feature pilot areas, with ideas including data centers, utility plants, bus depots, a deep-tunnel sewerage system, warehousing and water reservoirs.

There are no plans to move homes or offices below ground.

Singapore joins only a handful of cities that are mapping their subterranean space, said Peter Stones, a senior engineer with the consultancy Arup, which did a study for URA comparing its use of underground space to other cities.

“Globally, underground spaces are still back of mind; it’s a Wild West of development, with a first-come, first-served system,” he said.

“Singapore wants to look at it holistically and have a master plan so it can plan and manage the use of its underground space, and avoid potential conflicts,” he said.

Heat, humidity

From the catacombs of ancient Rome to step wells in medieval India and World War Two bunkers, underground spaces have been used for a variety of reasons.

Helsinki and Montreal are considered leaders in underground urbanism, a movement focused on innovative ways to use underground spaces.

Arup’s study found Singapore’s underground rail density is slightly behind Tokyo’s, and that it has the lowest density for underground pedestrian links.

The study also found Singapore trailed Hong Kong and Tokyo in underground road density as of 2014.

Of 180 kilometers of urban rail, nearly half are located below ground, as is about 10 percent of Singapore’s expressway network.

Besides the space crunch, the other driver for tapping underground space in Singapore is the weather, said Stones.

“You have rising heat and humidity, and increasingly heavy rainfall. People want to avoid that,” he said.

“Plus, utility networks are subject to more wear and tear in these conditions, so placing them underground is a viable option,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Advanced technologies and careful design also mean planners are able to alleviate the monotony and claustrophobia of underground spaces, he said.

But since building underground is generally more expensive and complex than on the surface, Singapore will only do so “where it is meaningful and practical,” URA’s Ler said.

“In many cases, it does make sense to build underground, considering benefits such as land saving, improving the quality of the environment and better connectivity,” he said.

“Our underground MRT (mass rapid transit) network and expressways in the city area are some examples where the benefits of going underground outweigh the higher construction cost and technical challenges.”

Storing fuel in rock caverns freed up more than 60 hectares, or 84 football fields, of space. The city’s reservoirs occupy about 5 percent of Singapore’s land, so moving them underground could create more space.

Full potential

By 2050, more than 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, according to United Nations estimates.

In developing countries, where most of this growth will take place, it will strain infrastructure and resources, and stoke conflict over scarce land, analysts say.

Meanwhile, ageing populations in wealthier nations will make other demands of city planning and infrastructure.

“With rising urban populations and demands for a better quality of life, there is a need to integrate the underground cityscape to keep our cities livable,” said Wout Broere, an assistant professor at Holland’s Delft University of Technology.

But moving infrastructure and other facilities underground is often considered as a last resort only when surface space is exhausted and no other options exist, said Broere, a specialist in underground space technology.

This makes it more expensive than it would be if the space above and below ground are developed simultaneously, he said.

“So making an underground master plan and assigning zones for different functions will help integrate the underground early on, and ultimately help to realize the full potential of a compact and livable city,” he said.

Singapore has among the highest percentages of public green spaces in the world. Under its Land Use Plan 2030, one-third of surface land is allocated for industrial, transport infrastructure and utilities.

The government in 2015 made legislative changes that enable it to buy land beneath private blocks, and limit private owners to 30 meters of space below their properties.

That will help avoid potential conflicts, and make it easier to move some “nuisance neighbors” underground, Stones said.

The Underground Master Plan uses 3D technology, allowing the visualization of space that otherwise cannot be seen.

It is part of the “Virtual Singapore” plan, a 3D model that will be fed by big data, and could assist in everything from urban planning to disaster mitigation.

It is not just Singapore that is interested in its underground space.

Last week, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk unveiled a 1.83-kilometer tunnel segment as a breakthrough in low-cost, fast-digging technology, and a first step in developing a high-speed subterranean network in Los Angeles.

The launch of Singapore’s Underground Master Plan next year may be less glamorous, but no less significant.

“The space is there, it’s an asset, and we should use it. Having a detailed and rigorous plan is crucial,” said Stones.

The post Digging Deep: Singapore Plans an Underground Future appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Says Policeman Found Dead Near Border With Bangladesh

Posted: 23 Dec 2018 08:32 PM PST

YANGON — The body of a missing Myanmar policeman was found on the country’s troubled border with Bangladesh, state media and officials said on Sunday after a clash with unknown gunmen last week.

Private Aung Kyaw Thet had been missing since his patrol was fired on from the Bangladesh side of the border on Dec. 17, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar.

His body was found on Friday with “gunshot wounds in his face, arm and leg,” the newspaper said, adding that another policeman was wounded in the incident.

The newspaper said the clash occurred in a rugged section of the border in Maungdaw Township, the epicenter of violence in August 2017 that drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims out of Myanmar and into Bangladesh.

Myanmar’s military had responded to attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group with a campaign that U.N.-mandated investigators said involved killings, rape and arson carried out with “genocidal intent” against the wider Rohingya population.

Major Mohammad Iqbal of the Bangladesh border guards said his men were not involved in the Dec. 17 incident, but they had heard the exchange of gunfire on the border.

Bangladeshi guards joined a patrol with their Myanmar counterparts to investigate, he said, adding that Aung Kyaw Thet’s body was found on Friday.

Lt. Colonel Tin Han Linn, of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police in Maungdaw, said they knew the location of the body several days before it was recovered on Friday, but had to arrange a joint Myanmar-Bangladesh team to retrieve the corpse.

The identity of the attackers was unknown and police are still investigating, he told Reuters.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a group claiming to represent the Rohingya, launched the August 2017 attacks on more than two dozen security posts, killing 13 members of Myanmar’s security forces.

ARSA “continues to have a prominent presence” in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and could launch cross-border raids on Myanmar forces, the International Crisis Group said in a November report on the proposed repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

Fighting between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army — a group that says it fights for the Rakhine Buddhist ethnic group — has flared this month in areas of northern Rakhine state further from the Bangladesh border, displacing more than 700 people.

The post Myanmar Says Policeman Found Dead Near Border With Bangladesh appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan Emperor Draws Huge Birthday Crowd Before Abdication Next Year

Posted: 23 Dec 2018 08:16 PM PST

TOKYO — More than 82,000 well-wishers paid their respects to Emperor Akihito, who turned 85 on Sunday, his last birthday celebration at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace before stepping down next year.

The birthday of the emperor, whose position is ceremonial with no political power, is traditionally marked by a national holiday and an address at the palace, which opens to the public on the day.

The crowd of 82,850, according to the Imperial Household Agency, was the largest birthday attendance during Akihito’s three-decade reign, known as the “Heisei” era, which means “achieving peace” in Japanese.

Flanked by his wife, eldest son Naruhito and other members of the imperial family on a balcony, Akihito addressed well-wishers waving small Japanese flags and holding up smartphones.

“My thoughts go out to those who have lost family members or those close to them, or have suffered damage and whose lives are currently impaired,” he said, referring to the natural disasters that hit Japan in the past year.

Earthquakes, severe storms and heatwaves killed hundreds of people, destroyed homes and disrupted supply chains, clouding the outlook for Japan’s export-reliant economy.

Along with Empress Michiko, Akihito has spent much of his reign addressing the legacy of World War Two, which was fought in the name of his father, Hirohito, and consoling victims of natural disasters.

“I would like to thank him for standing by us, the Japanese people, and would like him to rest and enjoy his time from now on,” said 46-year-old Kazuyo Toyama from Nagoya.

Akihito, who has had heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer, is scheduled to step down on April 30, passing the Chrysanthemum Throne to 58-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito.

The last time a Japanese emperor abdicated was in 1817.

Although he cannot directly influence government policy, Akihito has created a broader consciousness of Japan’s wartime past throughout his symbolic reign, experts said.

In comments made to the media ahead of his birthday, Akihito said “it is important not to forget that countless lives were lost in World War Two…and to pass on this history accurately to those born after the war.”

His conciliatory stance contrasts with gestures made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has adopted a less apologetic tone over Japan’s past military aggression.

Akihito also referred to foreign workers, saying he hoped that “the Japanese people will be able to warmly welcome as members of our society those who come to Japan to work.”

Japan enacted a law this month to let in more foreign, blue-collar workers to ease a labor shortage, despite criticism it was too hastily crafted and risked exposing the workers to exploitation.

The post Japan Emperor Draws Huge Birthday Crowd Before Abdication Next Year appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rescuers Dig Through Rubble for Survivors After Indonesian Tsunami Kills 280

Posted: 23 Dec 2018 08:09 PM PST

LABUAN, Indonesia—The death toll from a tsunami that hit the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra after the Anak Krakatau volcano erupted rose to at least 280 on Monday, officials said, as rescuers using heavy machinery and their bare hands searched for more victims.

Hundreds more were injured when the tsunami struck, almost without warning, along the rim of the Sunda Strait late on Saturday. More than 3,000 coastal residents were forced to evacuate to higher ground, with a high-tide warning in place until Tuesday.

The vast archipelago, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” has suffered its worst annual death toll from disasters in more than 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.

Search and rescue officials used their bare hands and some heavy machinery to clear the remains of buildings on Monday. Government and non-government aid trickled in to Pandeglang, the worst-affected area on Java’s west coast.

Indonesia’s disaster agency had put the death toll at 222 on Sunday, with about 850 injured and 28 people missing, but raised it to 280 early on Monday. A disaster mitigation agency official in Banten Province named Jhony told reporters most victims were Indonesian holidaymakers.

Dudi Dwiriadi, a district military commander, said personnel and volunteers had been briefed to sweep at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) of coastline in search of victims.

The timing of the tsunami over the Christmas holiday season evoked memories of the Indian Ocean tsunami triggered by an earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, which killed 226,000 people in 14 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

Roads blocked

Some roads remained blocked by debris and traffic, with families streaming out of the area for fear of further tsunamis.

President Joko Widodo, who is running for re-election in April, was scheduled to visit the area on Monday.

Television images showed when the tsunami hit the beach and residential areas in Pandeglang, dragging with it victims, debris, and large chunks of wood and metal.

Many coastal residents reported not seeing or feeling any warning signs, such as an earthquake, on Saturday night before waves of 2-3 metres (6-10 feet) washed ashore.

Yuni, a resident of Lampung in Sumatra, was watching television at home when she heard the water coming.

“I heard a rumbling sound and I thought it was the wind. After I opened the door, water came in quickly and dragged me out. When I saw outside, the sea was receding. I decided to run and go as the water came again for the second time,” she said.

Roman, a resident of the area who operates tours to Anak Krakatau, said by text message the weather had been fine when the waves struck, although residents had become wary of the rumbling volcano.

He said many others had taken refuge in his elevated village of Tahura Carita, which is about 100 meters from the sea. Evacuees were relying on instant noodles, he said.

Heavy equipment was being moved in to help with rescue efforts, as well as water and sanitation equipment. The military said it was deploying troops to distribute aid and blankets, as well as sending in medics.

The western coast of Banten province in Java, Indonesia’s most populated island, was also badly hit, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency.

At least 48 people were reported dead in Lampung in southern Sumatra, he said.

With the exact cause of the disaster still unknown, authorities were wary of the risk of a recurrence. Public works minister Basuki Hadimuljono said emergency operations would be carried out continuously but “would stop at the first sign of possible high tides”.

"Washed away"

Television footage showed how the tsunami washed away an outdoor stage where Indonesian rock band Seventeen was performing for hundreds of guests at an end-of-year party for state utility company PLN.

At least four band members and support crew were killed, lead singer Riefian “Ifan” Fajarsyah told followers in a tearful Instagram account. The band’s drummer was among the missing.

Another 29 PLN employees and relatives were also killed.

Anak Krakatau, roughly halfway between Java and Sumatra, has been spewing ash and lava for months. It erupted again just after 9 p.m. on Saturday and the tsunami struck about 30 minutes later, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The tsunami was caused by an undersea landslide resulting from volcanic activity on Anak Krakatau and was exacerbated by abnormally high tides because of the full moon, Nugroho said.

Ben van der Pluijm, an earthquake geologist and professor at the University of Michigan, said the tsunami may have been caused by a partial collapse of Anak Krakatau.

“Instability of the slope of an active volcano can create a rock slide that moves a large volume of water, creating local tsunami waves that can be very powerful. This is like suddenly dropping a bag of sand in a tub filled with water,” he said.

The eruption of Krakatau, previously known as Krakatoa, in 1883 killed more than 36,000 people in a series of tsunamis.

Anak Krakatau, which means child of Krakatau, is the island that emerged from the area once occupied by Krakatau, which was destroyed in 1883. It first appeared in 1927 and has been growing ever since.

The post Rescuers Dig Through Rubble for Survivors After Indonesian Tsunami Kills 280 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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