Indonesia's body collectors find their work is getting tougher

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Thursday, March 17, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m.

Indonesia's body collectors find their work is getting tougher

By Bruce Wallace

Los Angeles Times


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002210196_bodyhunt17.html

......He spotted a glint of white flesh and, getting closer, could make out the exposed head of a young girl. Bodies in the water are usually in worse shape than those found on land, the men agree.

The crew finds a cellphone in the left pocket of her jeans. The waterlogged phone doesn't work, but they pop the SIM card out, plug it into Husaini's phone, dial the last number called and, in seconds, reach Siti Bahrena Humaira's father.

He shows up 10 minutes later. Samsul Bahrul's story is as sad and terrible as the thousands of others. The family lived about a mile and a half from the sea, easily within the tsunami's deadly reach. That morning, 12-year-old Siti had gone with her mother and younger sister into the center of Banda Aceh, away from the water, for a painting competition. "Siti was very creative, a very active girl," says her uncle, Dek Gam, who has come with his brother-in-law to collect the remains.

When the earthquake hit, Bahrul jumped into his car and drove toward downtown Banda Aceh to find his family. They, in turn, were running home, directly into the deadly wave. .......