Some 200 employees of state electricity utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and family members had gathered at the Tanjung Lesung beach for an end-of-year party when the tsunami struck on Saturday night.
Video footage shared on social media showed partygoers enjoying the music and then screaming as the waves crashed into the stage and band members were swept away.
“Underwater I could only pray ‘Jesus Christ help!’,” Zack, a crew member of the rock band Seventeen, said in an Instagram post describing how he struggled in the water.
“In the final seconds I almost ran out of breath,” he said, adding he survived by clinging to part of the collapsed stage.
At least 168 people were killed and hundreds injured by the tsunami, triggered by an underwater landslide after the eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano, and the death toll is expected to climb.
Among the dead were four members of Seventeen - bassist M. Awal “Bani” Purbani, road manager Oki Wijaya, guitarist Herman Sikumbang and crew member Ujang, the band said.
The band’s drummer was missing.
“Lost Bani and our road manager Oki,” lead singer Riefian “Ifan” Fajarsyah told followers in a tearful recorded video message on his Instagram account.
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