CARITA,
Indonesia: A volcano-triggered tsunami has left at least 222 people dead and
hundreds more injured after slamming without warning into beaches around
Indonesia's Sunda Strait, officials said yesterday, voicing fears that the toll
would rise further. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit
the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (1430
GMT) on Saturday after a volcano known as the "child" of Krakatoa
erupted, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Dramatic video
posted on social media showed a wall of water suddenly crashing into a concert
by pop group "Seventeen" - hurling band members off the stage and
then flooding into the audience. In a tearful Instagram post, frontman Riefian
Fajarsyah said the band's bassist and road manager had been killed and his wife
was missing. Search and rescue teams were scouring rubble for survivors, with
222 people confirmed dead, 843 people injured and 28 missing, Nugroho said.

HH the Amir of
Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a cable of condolences to
Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday. In the cable, he expressed sincere
grief towards the victims of the tsunami. HH the Amir wished the injured quick
recuperation and hoped the nation will be able to cope with the consequences of
the natural catastrophe. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah
sent similar cables to the Indonesian president.

Tsunamis
triggered by volcanic eruptions are relatively rare, caused by the sudden
displacement of water or "slope failure", according to the
International Tsunami Information Centre. Unlike those caused by earthquakes,
which trigger alert systems, they give authorities very little time to warn
residents of the impending threat. The destructive wave left a trail of
uprooted trees and debris strewn across beaches. A tangled mess of corrugated
steel roofing, timber and rubble was dragged inland at Carita beach, a popular
spot for day-trippers on the west coast of Java.

Photographer
Oystein Andersen described how he was caught up in the disaster while on the
beach taking photos of Anak Krakatoa. "I suddenly saw a big wave," he
wrote on his Facebook page. "I had to run, as the wave passed the beach
and landed 15-20m inland. (The) next wave entered the hotel area where I was
staying and downed cars on the road behind it." The International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the "powerful
waves" reached a height of 30-90 cm.

Asep Perangkat
said he was with his family when the wave surged through Carita, carving a
swathe of destruction, dragging cars and shipping containers. "Buildings
on the edge of the beach were destroyed. Trees and electric poles fell to the
ground," he told AFP. In Lampung province, on the other side of the
strait, Lutfi Al Rasyid fled the beach in Kalianda city, fearing for his life.
"I could not start my motorbike so I left it and I ran... I just prayed
and ran as far as I could," the 23-year-old told AFP.

Kathy Mueller
from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said
the toll was likely to rise as the conditions on the ground became clearer.
"The situation, and the death toll, will remain fluid over the next days
and even weeks," she told AFP. Aid workers were helping to evacuate the
injured and bring in clean water, tarpaulins and provide shelter, she added, saying
the group was preparing for the possibility of diseases breaking out in the
tsunami zone.

Anak Krakatoa,
which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra,
emerged around 1928 in the crater left by Krakatoa, which erupted in 1883
killing at least 36,000 people. "The cause of the undersea landslide was
due to volcanic activity of Anak Krakatoa, which coincided with a high tide due
to the full moon," Nugroho told reporters in Yogyakarta.

Professor David
Rothery from The Open University said that the proximity of the volcano to the
coast gave authorities very little time to act. "Tsunami warning buoys are
positioned to warn of tsunamis originated by earthquakes at underwater tectonic
plate boundaries. Even if there had been such a buoy right next to Anak
Krakatau, this is so close to the affected shorelines that warning time would
have been minimal given the high speeds at which tsunami waves travel," he
said.

Indonesian
authorities initially said the wave was not a tsunami, but instead a tidal
surge and urged the public not to panic. Nugroho later apologized, saying
because there was no earthquake it had been difficult to ascertain the cause of
the incident early on. "If there is an initial error we're sorry," he
wrote on Twitter. The wave swamped parts of the coast around the Sunda Strait,
leaving at least 164 people dead in worst-affected Pandeglang district on
Java's western tip. Large numbers of casualties were recorded at two hotels in
the area, Nugroho said, without elaborating. 

Eleven people
died further north in Serang, while 48 were killed in South Lampung, on Sumatra
island. Heavy equipment was being transported to badly hit areas to help search
for victims and evacuation posts and public kitchens were being set up for
evacuees, he added. According to Indonesia's geological agency, Anak Krakatoa
had been showing signs of heightened activity for days, spewing plumes of ash
thousands of meters into the air.

Indonesia is one
of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth due to its position straddling the
so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide. Most
recently in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island a quake and tsunami in
September killed thousands of people. On Dec 26, 2004 a tsunami triggered by a
magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia
killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000
in Indonesia. - Agencies