Sister denies nun was missing after Indonesian eruption

Nov 20, 2024

JAKARTA: A Catholic nun quoted by several international media outlets as saying a fellow sister was missing after a deadly volcanic eruption early this month has denied making the claim.

Sister Agusta Palma of the Servants of the Holy Spirit congregation told UCA News that, “only one nun had died and no others were missing.”

Sister Palma, head of the Saint Gabriel Foundation, was previously quoted by the media outlets as saying a fellow nun had died and another was missing.

“I don’t know where that information came from. What is clear is that only one of our nuns died and no one was missing,” she said on November 19.

Sister Nikolin Padjo was one of nine people killed in the Lewotobi Laki-Laki eruption on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island, on November 3.

Authorities had previously claimed there were 10 victims but revised the number a day later.

Sister Palma said that during the eruption, her convent in Boru — which was adjacent to a junior high school — and a dormitory were destroyed.

She said the nuns were currently focusing on helping evacuees, including 150 students from the school who are now spread across several other schools the sisters manage in East Flores Regency.

"They will still be registered as students at their original school, but during this period they will study at other schools," she said, noting a decision has yet to be made on what to do about the destroyed school.

"We don't know how long this will last, that's why we decided to move them," she said.

The San Dominggo Hokeng Minor Seminary in East Flores, which is close to the nuns' convent, was another facility that was badly damaged.

According to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), as of Nov. 18, there were still 12,761 displaced people staying in temporary shelters.

The agency also decided to relocate 2,209 families from the six worst-affected villages located 4-5 kilometers from the volcano’s crater.

According to Jarwansyah, of the BNPB’s Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department, areas more than six kilometers from the crater were considered safe.

He offered two relocation options for evacuees, namely centralized relocation where land and houses are prepared by the government and independent relocation where houses are built by the government on residents’ land.

Meanwhile, for damaged houses in safe locations, the government has allocated funds for repairs. Some 60 million rupiah (US$ 3,782) will be allocated for each severely damaged house, 30 million rupiah for a moderately damaged house, and 15 million rupiah for lightly damaged homes.

The relocation option is in response to a directive by Vice President, Gibran Rakabuming Raka who visited Flores on Nov. 14.

Flores is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, with 11 active volcanoes on the island and four on Lembata, a small island to the east.--ucanews.com