The front man of popular Indonesian pop group Seventeen was to bury his wife Tuesday (Dec 25), compounding a tragedy that saw his three bandmates also killed when a tsunami tore into their open-air concert.
Dramatic footage posted online showed fans clapping and cheering before the wave smashes into the concert, hurling band members from the stage and slamming into the audience.
Riefian Fajarsyah posted an emotional tribute to wife Dylan Sahara on Instagram on Tuesday, alongside a video which showed him stroking her coffin. Another photo of her was captioned: ‘How can I live without you?’, according to Channel News Asia.
Riefian Fajarsyah buried wife Dylan Sahara (pictured together) on Tuesday, three days after a tsunami ripped through the gig venue where his band Seventeen were performing in Indonesia. (Photo: Instagram)
Sahara was in a crowd of 200 on Tanjung Lesung beach on Saturday as Fajarsyah’s band Seventeen performed when a 20ft wall of water smashed into the crowd around 9.30pm. It was a day before Sahara’s 26th birthday.
“Thank you guys for your prayers. Only God can repay your kindness. Please send prayers for my wife Dylan so she will be at peace.”
Sahara – who was running for a parliament seat in next year’s elections – was identified at a hospital late Monday, according to Indonesian media reports.
The 25-year-old was the daughter of a well-known Indonesian politician and an actress and TV personality in her own right.
‘(She) was not perfect and neither am I, but she never stopped trying to be the best wife,’ Fajarsyah said in his emotional online tribute. ‘I could not ask for more,’ reported by Daily Mail.
Fajarsyah, 35, was the only surviving member of Seventeen, which has released a half dozen albums and commands a large fan base in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Sahara’s funeral was held as Indonesian officials increased the death toll to 429 overnight on Monday as 128 people remained missing following the disaster.
Source: Channel News Asia & Daily Mail
