East Java, Oct 03 (Al Jazeera): Dewi Ajeng was at home in Probolinggo – a city in Indonesia’s East Java – when she received a chilling message in the group chat of her son’s school in Sidoarjo, located some two hours away.
Sidoarjo, East Java – Dewi Ajeng was at home in Probolinggo – a city in Indonesia’s East Java – when she received a chilling message in the group chat of her son’s school in Sidoarjo, located some two hours away.
“There were six ‘Haikals’ on the lists and I went to every hospital trying to find out if my son was there,” Dewi said.
“Then someone sent me a video from the scene and I could hear a voice shouting, ‘Mama, mama, mama,’ and I thought, ‘Thank God, that’s him, he’s calling for me’,” she said.
“From then on, I focused on the scene of the collapse. I just knew he was in there, and I told the search and rescue teams that he needed to be rescued.”
But a rescue would not be easy.
Young Haikal was trapped inside an air pocket under the fallen debris with five other pupils. He was the second closest to a jagged escape route through gaps in the rubble. But the way out was blocked by the body of one of Haikal’s friends, who died due to the force of the building collapse.
There was no way for Haikal to crawl out, or for the rescuers to squeeze in and reach him.
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