A police officer who was pronounced dead after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami is found alive by his family after spending 16 years in a psychiatric hospital due to the traumas he witnessed.
- Police Officer Abrip Asep was on duty when a tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004
- His relatives believed he was among the more than 230,000 people killed
- But Asep was found in a psychiatric hospital and reunited with his family
A police officer who was pronounced dead after the Indonesian tsunami in 2004 has been found alive after apparently suffering a mental breakdown in the midst of the tragedy and ending up in a psychiatric hospital for the past 16 years.
Abrip Asep was on duty when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Indonesia on boxing day in 2004, his family said.
His relatives were heartbroken after they thought he was among the more than 230,000 people who had been killed when waves of up to 100 meters high swept across Southeast Asia.
But, out of luck, Asep was found and reunited with his family after almost two decades of separation, according to local media.
Police officer Abrip Asep, who was pronounced dead after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, was found alive after apparently suffering a mental breakdown in the midst of the tragedy and ending up in a psychiatric hospital in the last 16 years. years. Pictured: Asep before disappearing (left), and Asep now in psychiatric hospital (right)
Abrip Asep was on duty when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Indonesia on boxing day in 2004, his family said. Pictured: The aftermath of the Aceh tsunami, Indonesia
Asep was found in a psychiatric hospital in Aceh province, Indonesia, after suffering mental health problems due to the traumas he witnessed during the tsunami.
He was reported missing by his family after the natural disaster hit Indonesia’s westernmost province, Aceh, and was later pronounced dead.
But his relatives said they made the shocking discovery that Asep was still alive in recent weeks after photos were shared in a family group chat on social media.
A relative said: “I couldn’t believe it, 17 years without news and I thought he was dead, I didn’t know he was still alive.”
Asep (left) was found in a psychiatric hospital in Aceh province, Indonesia, after suffering mental health problems due to the traumas he witnessed during the tsunami
Local police confirmed that the man found in the psychiatric hospital was Abrip, who was reported missing during the tsunami and later pronounced dead.
A spokesman for the Aceh regional police said: “Even though he is suffering from mental illness due to the tsunami, his family is very grateful that they found him alive.”
It is not clear why his family was not notified that he was in a psychiatric hospital.
The archipelago nation of Indonesia was the worst affected country in Southeast Asia when the Indian Ocean earthquake was followed by a tsunami on December 26, 2004.
The Indonesian archipelago nation was the worst affected country in Southeast Asia when the Indian Ocean earthquake was followed by a tsunami on December 26, 2004. Pictured: The aftermath of the tsunami off the coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia
The tsunami was the effect of an underwater earthquake immediately after 1 am on the day of boxing, the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph, with a magnitude of 9.0-9.3.
The gigantic movement of water that followed saw waves of up to 100ft hitting the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Indonesia has been severely affected by the tsunami, killing at least 167,000 people and is believed to be closer to 200,000.
But this is unlikely to ever be confirmed, as thousands of bodies could never be recovered because they were driven offshore by strong waves.