Ferringgi Tragedy

A true story. Not mine, but worth to share. Read on.

Just to share the sad tragedy in Ferringgi yesterday. Actually, I don't know how to describe the experience but try to make it as clear as possible. If you all know Feringghi, it is not like PD, where the beach is selari dgn jalanraya. Kat Feringgi, most of the picnic spots are down below, and banyak batu besar-besar.

My hubby was in the midst of parking our car at a spot called Miami Beach (the 3rd public picnic spot along Feringgi) when the tsunami happened. People was climibing the slope, running and crossing the road and getting into their cars. Thought a fire broke out cos I could see what looks like smoke, coming from the picnic spot (down the slope). But it was actually the water spray from the tsunami.

One family was rushing to get into their car, parked beside us and my hubby tanya what happened. The lady said, 'air naik'. What actually happened was the giant tsunami slapped the banks, almost parallel to the jalanraya level, easily 10 feet (maybe more) high and swept everyone and everything that was on the picnic spot. My hubby parked the car and ran across to see what was happening and managed to help 2 women climb to the top. It was chaotic, people were running here and there to look for family members, many got into their cars and left, and many still stood around waiting.

I asked another lady whose family (husband, 2 kids & a maid) managed to escape from being swept by the water but didn't get to save her things. Thank God, she still have her family alive. She told me there was already a warning that it is not safe to swim, due to the earthquake, but many didn't heed that warning. The tsunami came 3 times, the first wave was not so bad, she said. The 2nd one was stronger but the 3rd was huge and it came in a split second.

In the chaos, I saw one man carrying a little girl (I think abt 3yo) on his both arms tapi the girl tu telungkup (faced down). He looked so blank and just walking trying to find help but everyone just looked at him. At that time, I was in the car holding my 3yo son who's sleeping. I just put my son on the car seat, ran across the road and asked him to put her on the ground. I wanted to give her CPR.

When he put the girl on the road, I was so shocked to see her face was wide-eyed and very watery and was not breathing. Macam kalau kita rendam muka dalam air and buka mata, macam kembang. Water is coming out from her eyes, hidung and she was lifeless. Her face, mouth was covered with sand. I tried a few attempts, breathing into her mouth and pumping her but she was already gone. I couldn't find a pulse. After a while, they managed to get a car to take her to the hospital. I was shaking.

We could still see a few people bobbing up and down in the water, 1 or 2 managed to hang on to the tubes, or something. Nobody dares to go and save them. Ramai yang cedera cos was slammed into the rocks or trees or buried in the sand.

Last night I couldn't sleep thinking about soooo many things, the lifeless girl, all the 'what ifs', and counting my blessings..... I just thank Allah for keeping my family safe, for all the delays, the traffic jams, the change in our original plans, and all the diversions which actually kept us from going to the beach much earlier.

Takziah to the families who have lost their loved ones.
Al-Fatihah to those who have lost their lives in the tragedy..

Note: this story is published with consent. Thanks to sis Yushida Yusuf.

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