A cop who was declared dead after a brutal tsunami struck Indonesia in 2004 has been found alive by his family.
For more than 16 years, police officer Abrip Asep was staying in a mental hospital after the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the country in 2004 Boxing Day, his relatives said.
Asep’s family were left devastated after they believed that the police officer was among the over 230,000 people who had been killed by the natural disaster on December 26, 2004.
Nearly two decades later, Asep has been reunited with his family. He was in a mental hospital in Aceh province due to the traumas he experienced during the tsunami.
According to reports, his family reported him missing but he was later declared dead.
“I couldn’t believe it, 17 years of no news and we thought that he passed away, we didn’t know he was still alive,” a relative expressed.
Police confirmed that the man in the psychiatric hospital was Asep.
An Aceh Regional Police spokesperson said: “Even though he is experiencing mental illness due to the tsunami, his family is very grateful to have found him alive.”
Indonesia was the worst hit county when an underwater earthquake was followed by a tsunami in December 2004.
The Indian Ocean earthquake was the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph, with a magnitude of 9.0 to 9.3.
The coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka were hit by huge waves of up to 100ft. Thousands of bodies were never recovered as they were swept out to the sea by the strong waves.
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Replaced!