Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well, welcome to my write up of the 1986 Chernobyl Disaster!

History of Events

Fourteen thousand people used to live here now it's a ghost town. Chernobyl was one of the most devastating catastrophes to happen in the last 100 years. With an immediate death toll of 30, with another 30+ casualties & more unrecorded in the following decades due to long term radiation poisoning. With the explosion completely destroying the Number 4 Reactor during a low power test along with contaminating 150,000 square kilometres of land across Russia & Ukraine. Radioactive particles were carried across winds, spreading across parts of Europe including Sweden, Finland, The United Kingdom & more. At approximately 1:23 AM a low power test was conducted on the Number 4 Reactor, as the test began an unexpected power surge hit the reactor. Despite the attempts of the facility employees using the emergency shutdown protocol the control rods seemingly jammed while going inside of the reactor causing a reaction starting a fire, leading to two large explosions, causing the entire roof to be blown off of the reactor. Immediately after that the plant goes into a blackout and radiation begins seeping into the air, multiple fires begin to start up, compromising the integrity of the building, causing walls to crumble and equipment to fail. At 1:28 AM the first firefighters respond to the scene completely unaware of the radiation in the surrounding area, little did they know this would be the biggest mistake of their lives. At 1:35 AM firefighters made their way up to the rooftop of the Turbine Hall to fight fires that were raging up top.

Grigorii Khmel, the driver of one of the fire engines, later described what happened:

We arrived there at 10 or 15 minutes to two in the morning… We saw graphite scattered about. Misha asked: “Is that graphite?” I kicked it away. But one of the fighters on the other truck picked it up. “It's hot,” he said. The pieces of graphite were of different sizes, some big, some small, enough to pick them up… We didn't know much about radiation. Even those who worked there had no idea. There was no water left in the trucks. Misha filled a cistern and we aimed the water at the top. Then those boys who died went up to the roof – Vashchik, Kolya and others, and Volodya Pravik…. They went up the ladder … and I never saw them again.

After the arrival of the first responding firefighters, thousands of police began to setup multiple roadblocks around the town of Pripyat and the Chernobyl facility also unaware of the radiation in the area. Around 6:35 AM, 37 fire brigades totalling out to 186 firefighters or so are now at the facility fighting fires and assisting with medical. Some of these men knew the risks yet all of them still risked their lives to stop the fires and rescue people in the buildings.

Helicopters began to drop tons and tons of sand, lead, clay & boron on the burning reactor in an attempt to stop the fires and radiation, it only slightly dropped the radiation levels not doing much also in the process of dumping sand on the fire a helicopter clipped a crane and 4 people died as a result. (Can be seen further down in post)

Chernobyl Suicide Squad

The "Chernobyl Suicide Squad" was a name given to three men who took on a mission that most certainly should've lead to their demise, they were tasked to go under the power plant in hazmat diving suits to swim through radioactive water so they could shut off steam valves to prevent a world wide situation. These three men are Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov and Boris Barnov, as they swam through radioactive waters through the blown out basement of the power plant the radiation killed their flashlights. They somehow managed to still find the valves despite the darkness, closing them and preventing a massive meltdown. All three men survived the ordeal going on to live their lives, Boris Barnov died in 2005 from a heart attack but the other two are still alive to this day.

Evacuation of Pripyat

Around 43,000 residents were evacuated from the city of Pripyat due to how close it was to the radiation and explosion, they used buses to get people out of the city only giving them a short amount of time to collect things they needed or wanted to bring. People were under the impression that it was going to be a temporary leave from their homes but unfortunately as it turned out a majority of them never saw their homes ever again.

This here is an excerpt from the evacuation announcement that they sent out to the citizens of Pripyat:

For the attention of the residents of Pripyat! The City Council informs you that due to the accident at Chernobyl Power Station in the city of Pripyat the radioactive conditions in the vicinity are deteriorating. The Communist Party, its officials and the armed forces are taking necessary steps to combat this. Nevertheless, with the view to keep people as safe and healthy as possible, the children being top priority, we need to temporarily evacuate the citizens in the nearest towns of Kiev Oblast. For these reasons, starting from April 27, 1986 2 pm each apartment block will be able to have a bus at its disposal, supervised by the police and the city officials. It is highly advisable to take your documents, some vital personal belongings and a certain amount of food, just in case, with you. The senior executives of public and industrial facilities of the city has decided on the list of employees needed to stay in Pripyat to maintain these facilities in a good working order. All the houses will be guarded by the police during the evacuation period. Comrades, leaving your residences temporarily please make sure you have turned off the lights, electrical equipment and water and shut the windows. Please keep calm and orderly in the process of this short-term evacuation.

Aftermath of Chernobyl

After the explosion some residents of Pripyat could see the flames from afar, they burned in different colors due to the graphite fires inside of the reactor, additionally to that there were hundreds of different types of radioactive particles blowing through the air towards them with the main radioactive element being Caesium-137, nobody watching the flames that night survived due to the heavy amounts of radiation they took on (500 Roentgen, 4.385 Sieverts). The surrounding areas of Chernobyl were heavily affected by the radiation caused by the meltdown of the reactor, even to this day we still see effects of the events that happened almost 40 years ago.

Environmental Effects

Ecosystems were affected by the radiation in a variety of ways, plants and animals were contaminated, agricultural lands were ruined causing the mortality rates of farm animals to raise significantly. Plants and animals were genetically altered from the radiation, causing plants to change shapes amongst other things and animals to gain physical deformities such as two heads. After the explosion a newly discovered species of mushrooms were discovered in the reactor area they seemingly were attracted to the radiation, it came to be discovered that they could actually be used to break down the radiation in the area.

The Elephants Foot

This here is a mass of radioactive materials that formed after the meltdown of the reactor, it is considered by some to be one of the most dangerous radioactive formations in the world. This formation consists of material from the reactor core along with various other metals and components from the reactor, it is has now become a staple of Chernobyl attraction for tourists. Thankfully over the years the radiation has died down quite a bit but to this day it is still dangerous to be around it for more than 5 minutes. The Elephants Foot got it's name due to it's appearance.

Chernobyl Today

Chernobyl is now mostly overgrown with nature, it has become a hotspot for adventurers and explorers alike. There are few people who chose to stay living there mostly original inhabitants not wanting to leave everything behind, also people utilize the help of "Stalkers" to maneuver through Chernobyl.

Photos of Chernobyl now

Those who died

Aleksandr F. Akimov

Yuri Y. Badaev

Anatoly I. Baranov

Nikolai S. Bondarenko

Vitaly I. Borets

Vyacheslav S. Brazhnik

Viktor P. Bryukhanov

Vladimir A. Chugunov

Razim I. Davletbayev

Viktor M. Degtyarenko

G. A. Dik

Anatoly S. Dyatlov

M. A. Elshin

Nikolai M. Fomin

Sergei N. Gazin

Mihail Golovnenko

Vasily I. Ignatenko

Yakaterina A. Ivanenko

Aleksander A. Kavunets

Grigori M. Khmel

Valery I. Khodemchuk

Viktor M. Kibenok

Igor Kirschenbaum

Yuri I. Konoval

A. P. Kovalenko

Aleksandr H. Kudryavtsev

A. A. Kukhar

Anatoly K. Kurguz

Nikolai G. Kuryavchenko

Aleksandr G. Lelechenko

Viktor I. Lopatyuk

Klavdia I. Luzganova

G. V. Lysyuk

Gennady P. Metlenko

Aleksandr A. Nekhaev

Oleksandr V. Novyk

Ivan L. Orlov

Kostyantyn H. Perchuk

Valery I. Perevozchenko

Aleksandr Petrovsky

Georgi I. Popov

Volodymyr Pravyk

Vladimir. I. Prishchepa

Viktor V. Proskuryakov

Boris V. Rogozhkin

Gennady Rusanovsky

Aleksei V. Rysin

Volodomyr I. Savenkov

Anatoly I. Shapovalov

Vladimir N. Shashenok

Anatoly V. Shlelyayn

Anatoly A. Sitnikov

Viktor G. Smagin

Boris Stolyarchuk

Leonid Telyatnikov

Volodymyr I. Tishchura

Nikolai I. Titenok

Petr Tolstiakov

Leonid F. Toptunov

Yuri Tregub

Arkady G. Uskov

Mykola V. Vashchuk

V. F. Verkhovod

Yuri A. Vershynin

Aleksandr Yuvchenko

Ivan M. Shavrey

Video of a MI-8 Helicopter crashing while flying over the reactor months later

Map of the radiation spread across Europe

Photo of a mutated calf that was born in Chernobyl

Reactor building the next day after the explosion

Central Hall before and after

Before

After

Welp that is all everyone! I really hope you enjoyed my post I will probably come back to add more later on, Thank you for your time, much love!

Sources:

https://www.chernobylgallery.com/chernobyl-disaster/timeline/

Debra Stevens, Age 47, was delivering newspapers at her neighbourhood during a flood, getting back to her parked car to go back home, while she was in the car was swept away to a an alley(?) And got stuck in the trees.

(Photo of Debra.)

She called 911 and Her call was answered by then-dispatcher Donna Reneau, The dispatcher submitted her resignation notice two weeks prior to the incident. Debras' death occurred during what was to be the operator's final shift.

(Photo of Donna.)

Donna stayed on the call with Debra for about 22 minutes. At some points, the dispatcher told Debra that first responders were also saving other people from floodwaters and that many other emergency calls she needed to attend were coming in.

In a recording of the call, the dispatcher scolded Debra for “freaking out” as floodwaters filled her SUV. Debra repeatedly told the operator she feared she was going to die.

Later, Debra told the dispatcher she was worried the floodwaters would ruin her “brand new phone,” preventing responders from finding her.

“Do you really care about your brand new phone?” the dispatcher said. “I mean, you're over there crying for your life. Who cares about your phone?”

By the time first responders reached Debra and removed her from her car, at about 6 a.m. — about an hour and a half after she called 911 — she had drowned.

AFTERMATH:

As stated Debra died via drowning before the first responders could even get to her.

Her family were grieving obviously, but didn't blame it on Donna for some reason.

What happened to Donna?

She received death threats to her cell phone, forcing her to change her number, no legal actions were taken against that bitch.

Thoughts?

The accident took place on February 20, 2003 at the nightclub station, it left ~100 dead

Fire at the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station in Antarctica, on 25 February 2012 that killed 2 people and injured another.

The fire broke out in the machine room housing the power generators at approximately 2:00 am (Brasília time) on 25 February 2012.The Brazilian Navy opened an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident. An initial report by the Ministry of Defense suggests that a short circuit might have triggered the explosion.

Source

This post documents the 2004 Malaysia tsunami

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Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

at 07 : 58 : 53 WIB on Sunday, December 26 2004. An earthquake measuring 9.1 SR occurred off western coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

The earthquake generated a speeding tsunami that crashed into Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives, which killied tens of thousands of people. Causes by the Indian Plate to be pushed down by the Burma Plate.

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Tsunami Hits Malaysia

After 3 hours, the tsunami hit Malaysia, more precisely on Langkawai Island

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Raw footage of the tsunami hitting Malaysia

Tsunami Hit Langkawi Islands

Tsunami Hit Kedah

Tsunami Hit Pinang Islands

Live Broadcast

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Aftermath

As many as 75 people died in Malaysia due to the tsunami.

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This post is a continuation of the previous post about the 2004 Indonesian Aceh tsunami.

Hopefully this tragedy will not happen again

This archive discusses the 2004 Aceh Tsunami tragedy

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami or better known as (Aceh earthquake and tsunami) occurred at 07 : 58 : 53 WIB on Sunday, December 26 2004. The epicenter was located off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake shock had a scale of 9.1–9.3 on the moment strength scale and IX (Great) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Megathrust earthquakes Undersea earthquakes occur when the Indian Plate is pushed downward by the Burma Plate. This tsunami wave killed around 227,898 people in 14 countries, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia and the Maldives were the worst affected countries.

https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gempa_bumi_dan_tsunami_Samudra_Hindia_2004

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Indonesia was the first country to be seriously affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Almost all of the victims and damage occurred in Aceh Province. The arrival time of the tsunami was around 15 to 30 minutes after the earthquake. According to the National Disaster Management Agency, around 130,000 people died and 37,063 people are missing. In addition, the UN estimates that 655,000 people are homeless and taking refuge in refugee camps scattered across the province. In the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, around 60,000 people were killed by the tsunami. More than a thousand bodies were found in the streets of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, and placed in mass graves without waiting for identification as officials quickly tried to keep the situation from worsening.

https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gempa_bumi_dan_tsunami_Samudra_Hindia_2004

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The area most devastated by the Tsunami and Earthquake

Indian Ocean map

Sumatra island map

https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gempa_bumi_dan_tsunami_Samudra_Hindia_2004

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The time when the tragedy occurred

07 : 58 : 53 WIB on Sunday, December 26 2004.

Megathrust earthquakes Undersea earthquakes occur when the Indian Plate is pushed downward by the Burma Plate.

The epicenter was located off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake shock had a scale of 9.1–9.3 on the moment strength scale and IX (Great) on the Mercalli intensity scale, causing a Tsunami wave to appear

https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gempa_bumi_dan_tsunami_Samudra_Hindia_2004

Amateur video of what happened during the earthquake

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The arrvial of tsunami waves in Aceh

The arrival time of the tsunami was around 15 to 30 minutes after the earthquake.

https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gempa_bumi_dan_tsunami_Samudra_Hindia_2004

Amateur video recorded by someone on a ship recording a sea wave that was about to hit Aceh

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the moment Aceh was hit by a tsunami

In less than a few minutes, a large wave suddenly arrived, approximately 30 meters high, which swept across the west coast of Sumatra and the small islands around it. It is estimated that this tsunami wave wiped out the land at a speed of up to 800 km per hour.

In just seven minutes, cities on the west coast of Aceh were filled with building rubble and corpses in tragic conditions.

Recording of when Aceh was hit by a tsunami, recorded by Cut Putri

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Live broadcast at the time of the tragedy

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Aftermath

around 130,000 people died and 37,063 people are missing.

Throughout 2005-2009, the reconstruction and rehabilitation process was carried out to restore the condition of Aceh City. During that time, many assisted living facilities were established, including various infrastructure and public facilities.

Two years after the tsunami, development is a major challenge and the aim is still to rebuild basic infrastructure services. After the completion of the rehabilitation and reconstruction period, Aceh continued to develop, characterized by an increase in the area of built-up areas and a reduction in agricultural areas and other vegetation cover. The development of Banda Aceh City in 2005-2011 still focused on the post-earthquake and tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction program coordinated by BRR NAD-Nias. This period is a big challenge because we have to restore various sectors such as housing, educational facilities, health facilities, road network access, clean water access, and so on.

https://dishub.acehprov.go.id/pembangunan-aceh-setelah-19-tahun-berlalu-pasca-tsunami/

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Hopefully this tsunami tragedy will not happen again.

Wonder if they survived it

Massive fire breaks out at the historic Oceanside Pier in California about 40 min north of San Diego city.

The fire appears to be at the location of Ruby's Restaurant, a diner which is permanently closed.

Fire fighting boats are on the scene however they are having a very difficult time putting out the fire.

The original pier was build in 1888

The city of Oceanside spent $5.5 million last year to upgrade the 1,954 foot long pier by replacing old pipes and electrical systems.

This flood took place in Algeria, Jijel, on February 15. The heavy rains led to the flooding of valleys and the formation of torrents, resulting in the destruction of cars, homes, the bus station, and farms. Unfortunately, 13 people lost their lives during this disaster.

1- Here are some pics/videod showing the main entrance of the town "Jijel." :

Same place but after some hours :

After math :

2- Apartment complex :

Hours after the flood started :

Mid flood :

Random pics pf the same place

After math of flooded farms

from news;

„More than 11,000 people have been told to evacuate and air travel in the region has been disrupted after a volcano in northern Indonesia erupted multiple times.

Mount Ruang, located in North Sulawesi Province, first erupted at 9:45pm (13:45 GMT) on Tuesday, sending billowing clouds of smoke and ash high into the sky.”

i don't know if anybody died.

source:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/18/11000-evacuated-in-northern-indonesia-as-ruang-volcano-erupts

She failed who would've thought

What happened?

On April 9, 2015, Clem Schultz, aged 85, was at his home in Fairdale, Illinois, with his wife, Geraldine, known as Geri.

"We just finished supper," Schultz, 85, told ABC News. "My wife called me in the kitchen. She said, 'Look out the window.' And sure enough I looked out -- we see this big, ugly tornado coming."

"It looked like it was going to miss us," he said.

Geri stayed in the kitchen while he went upstairs to get some lanterns.

As the loud tornado loomed, Schultz decided to start recording cell phone video.

The video shows the tornado move closer and the sky darken, before the picture goes black.

"Up until the time the house started moving, it still looked to me like it was going to go to the west -- and miss us," he said. "Suddenly, I realized I was wrong.

I was standing next to the chimney when the whole place went down," Shultz said.

The chimney fell on top of him; he remembers he was buried in a pile of rubble.

"All of a sudden it kind of got quiet," Schultz continued. "'I asked myself 'Are you dead?' But then I said, 'No you can't hurt when you're dead,' and I hurt."

He said he later learned he had a crushed vertebrae.

As several people helped Schultz dig his way out, he said one of them told him, "'Don't look down because your wife is under you -- and she's dead.'"

He looked for her pulse, but couldn't find it.

Clem also said that he wont be living in Fairdale anymore. However some time later, he did return to Fairdale with a Black Shepard to meet his former neighbor, Joe Wiegand. Clem didn't plan to rebuild the house because of his "memories" and looking at moving close to his kids.

Why did Clem keep recording and did not seek shelter?

The reason Clem wants this to be out there is to "save lives". Clem also stayed in the attic because he thought the tornado was tracking away from him, but when he realized it was coming for him; it was already too late. He was unable to move fast because of his age.

Joe Wiegand

After the incident, Clem showed the infamous video to Joe, this is what the conversation was like:

CLEM: About two minutes into this, my house came down and knocked the phone out of my hand and it kept recording.

JOE: So now you are still standing up taking video right now?

CLEM: Right about now is when I realized ‘uh-oh.'

JOE: See the shaking? Your house is shaking apart right now, isn't it?

CLEM: Yeah. At this point, I was laying under several feet of rubble, wondering why I was still alive.

CLEM: He said ‘okay, now you're by this beam, I want you to sit down and put your feet down here on the floor, but don't look down.' I said ‘why don't look down?' He said, ‘because your wife is right under you and she's dead.'

JOE: You look down?

CLEM: Of course. I reached down, and got her pulse…no pulse. We had propane leaking. They told me, ‘you gotta get out of here.'

Who's dead and who's not?

Clem miraculously survived with a broken vertebra. He was send to a hospital in Madison for back issues, likely due to the tornado. His wife named Geri Schultz(aged 67) and a neighbor named Jacklyn Klosa(aged 69, the house in front that Clem filmed was Jacklyn's house) both were killed. His dog named Missy was uninjured but went suddenly missing after.

Clarence "Clem" Schultz:

Geraldine "Geri" Schultz:

Jacklyn Klosa:

Aftermath photos of Clem's now destroyed house:

The tornado itself:

Hope Clem is feeling better now

Behind Dashcam:

Bonus

Another car dashcam video:

Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years kills seven, traps 77

• Earthquake kills seven, more than 700 injured

• At least 77 trapped, many in tunnels

• Epicentre just off Taiwan's sparsely populated east coast

• Semiconductor giant TSMC evacuates production lines

TAIPEI, April 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan's biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed seven people on Wednesday, injuring more than 700, with 77 trapped in tunnels and collapsed buildings, authorities said, as rescuers used ladders to help some people descend to safety.

Television broadcast images of buildings tilted at precarious angles in the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien, near the epicentre of the 7.2 magnitude quake, which struck just offshore at about 8 a. m. (0000GMT).

"It was very strong. It felt as if the house was going to topple," said Chang Yu-lin, 60, a worker in a hospital in Taipei, the capital.

A woman who runs a bed-and-breakfast accommodation in Hualien city said she scrambled to calm her guests who were frightened by the quake.

"This is the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced," said the woman who asked to be identified by her family name, Chan.

The quake hit at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), just as people were headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.

Video showed rescuers using ladders to help trapped people out of windows, while elsewhere there were massive landslides, as strong tremors in Taipei forced the subway system to close briefly, although most lines resumed service.

Fire authorities said about 60 of the roughly 77 trapped were caught in a tunnel just north of Hualien city, with two Germans among those trapped in another tunnel.

The government put the number of injured at 736.

"At present the most important thing, the top priority, is to rescue people," said President-elect Lai Ching-te, speaking outside one of the collapsed buildings in Hualien.

The rail link to the area was expected to re-open on Thursday, Lai, who is set to take office next month, told reporters.

Taiwan's air force said six F-16 fighter jets had been slightly damaged at a major base in the city from which jets are often scrambled to see off incursions by China's air force, but it expected the aircraft to return to service very soon.

Mirror

This is a classic oldie. Most people think the worker died, but he didn't! In fact, he was barely scratched.

The backstory is in this youtube video which I copy/pasted below. Here's the Youtube Video, but you really don't need to see it, its the same:

There is another youtube video of this accident but it's not as good.

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Backstory:

2,065,239 views Jun 28, 2011

An excavator driver escaped certain death while removing a house in the Talkha center on the Mansoura-Damietta highway last week, when a building collapsed in front of the excavator he was working on, in a rare scene that Youm7 obtained a video recording of.

The funny thing is that the driver survived death, but lost his mobile phone and his wallet. Major General Mohsen Hefzy, Governor of Dakahlia, granted the citizen Zain El Abidine Mustafa Ahmed Ghazi, “excavator driver at the Arab Contractors Company,” an amount of one thousand pounds in his office yesterday morning, Monday, as compensation for the loss of his belongings.

The driver was in a campaign to remove encroachments on agricultural lands and state property in the Talkha center, on the “Mansoura-Damietta” highway, when he was involved in the accident last week.

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Backstory

A huge collapse occurred in a 5-story building in a few seconds while a campaign by the armed forces, police, and the Talkha City Council in Egypt was carrying out a campaign to remove major and provocative encroachments. It began with a building that the owner of a car company built without a license. It is strange that the driver of Al-Daqaq went about his work and took out Al-Daqaq after clearing the concrete that fell on him with another loader. A security source confirmed that he did not believe what happened and that it was the power of God alone that saved everyone at the site, and that if what happened were repeated hundreds of times, it would not come out in this way.

Landslide in North Bastem District, Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia killed 4 people.

Three members of the band were killed and a lot of random people at the concert.