Indonesian earthquake survivors recount chaotic escape: ‘house collapsed on me’

‘So, we all started to panic; some people jumped out of windows, and some ran outside,’ a Flores resident says

Melania, 56, recounted how she prayed as she fought to get her family to safety.

“The four of us – my husband, our two children, and I – were on the bed,” when the 7.7-magnitude rattler struck just north of Flores island at around 5.30am on Saturday.

At least 48 people were killed in the quake and dozens injured.

“The bed almost flipped over. Tables and all the things on the tables and on top of the cupboards all fell and scattered everywhere,” she said.

“We were panicking. When the shaking eased a little, we immediately pushed his bed and took him outside.”