‘Underwater, I Could Only Pray’: The Indonesia Tsunami Washed Away a Pop Band as it Played
Video circulating on social media shows the moment when a tsunami crashed into a concert at a resort in western Java, while Indonesian band Seventeen was performing.
The band was revving up the crowd at the private, beachside concert, the lead singer punctuating musical notes with pumping fists — “We. Are. Seventeen!” — unaware of the approaching danger.
As he walked across the stage Saturday night, a tsunami hit the shore of Tanjung Lesung beach on the western tip of Java, Indonesia, knocking the stage out from under the band and bringing the concert to a sudden and tragic end.
In a video recorded by someone standing several yards away, the stage — with the band members on it — briefly floats as the water hits and then is washed away. Band members disappear underwater.
Cleve R. Wootson Jr., writing for the Washington Post, shares the story of the pop band Seventeen. They were performing at a private, beachside concert when this week’s deadly tsunami struck. Four people connected to the band are still missing.
