Footage shows the chilling moment a band is struck by a tsunami mid-performance.

An Indonesian band called Seventeen was performing on the beach in Tanjung Lesung, a popular resort in Banten province overlooking the Sunda Strait, when a tsunami surged into the back of the stage.

The band was entertaining some 260 staff and family members from a division of the state power company PLN.

“We were singing our second song when suddenly a big wave crashed from behind the stage,” Seventeen’s lead vocalist Riefian Fajarsyah, also known as Ifan, later told news broadcaster TV One.

A short video widely shared on social media showed the band playing at the moment the wave hit, causing it to instantly collapse. Screams can be heard as the clip abruptly ends.

NEW: Video shows a tsunami crashing into a venue in Indonesia where the band Seventeen was performing https://t.co/4P9zDCRkKC pic.twitter.com/q9RYOaPTt8

— BNO News (@BNONews) December 23, 2018

The water washed inland and dragged along everyone at the location.

The local PLN division holding the party, a transmission unit for western Java, lost 14 people in the disaster.

Seventeen’s bassist, M. Awal Purbani, also known as Bani, its road manager and its guitarist were killed, the band said in a statement.

The drummer, a crew member, and Ifan’s wife were still apparently missing.

The distraught vocalist made an emotional plea for prayers for his missing wife and bandmates in a video on Instagram.

“Today is your birthday. I want to say right away, hurry home honey,” Ifan wrote in the accompanying caption.

 

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Kabar duka menyelimuti keluarga besar Seventeen Band. @seventeenbandid . Keterlibatan kami dalam acara gathering perusahaan PLN di Tanjung Lesung mengalami bencana alam. Pada 22 Desember sekitar pukul 21.30 WIB air pasang menyapu bersih panggung yang letaknya sangat berdekatan dengan laut. . Dari bencana tersebut kami harus kehilangan orang-orang tercinta. Pemain bass kami M Awal Purbani yang biasa disapa Bani juga Road Manajer Oki Wijaya menghembuskan nafas terakhirnya. Kejadian berlangsung saat baru lagu kedua Seventeen menghibur penonton. Air pasang naik ke permukaan dan menyeret seluruh orang yang ada di lokasi. Sayangnya saat arusnya surut anggota kami ada yang bisa menyelamatkan diri sementara sebagian tidak menemukan tempat berpegangan. Posisi panggung tepat membelakangi laut. . Saat ini korban bencana terpencar di klinik-klinik dalam radius 2-3KM dari lokasi kejadian. Sejak semalam tim SAR sudah diturunkan. Dan tim kami yang selamat belum bisa kemana-mana karena minimnya transportasi. Adapun keluarga yang belum kami temukan adalah: – Herman Sikumbang (gitaris) – Andi Windu Darmawan (drum) – Ujang (kru) – Dylan Sahara (istri Ifan – vokalis) Berikut statement dari Ifan : “ kehilangan Bani dan road manager kami Oki. Andi, ujang (kru) sama Herman belum diketemukan. Doakan juga semoga Dylan istri saya cepat diketemukan. Alhamdulillah yang lain selain itu sudah diketemukan walaupun dalam kondisi luka-luka. Kita ikhlas”. . Kami selaku keluarga besar Seventeen Band meminta agar teman-teman tidak menyebarkan foto-foto dari lokasi. Juga untuk tidak menyebarkan isu hoax. Kabar teraktual hanya berasal dari kami dan akan terus kami update. Mohon doanya agar anggota keluarga kami lainnya segera diketemukan. ????????????????

A post shared by MAHAKARYAINC (@mahakaryainc) on Dec 22, 2018 at 10:00pm PST

The vocalist said he floated on the water for about two hours with dead bodies around him. When he was finally able to get ashore, he found the bodies of Bani and road manager Oki Wijaya among some debris.

Eighty-nine people at the event were still missing. About 157 people, including some badly injured, were already accounted for.

“We continue to keep tabs on staff and search for victims,” PLN spokesman I Made Suprateka said.

“We are also restoring the electricity network to make it run as normal,” he added.

It’s just one area hit by the waves that smashed into houses, hotels and other beachside buildings on Saturday night along Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, in a disaster that followed an eruption and possible landslide on Anak Krakatau, one of the world’s most infamous volcanic islands.

At least 222 people were killed, more than 800 others were injured and dozens were reported missing after the tsunami hit coastal areas along western Java and southern Sumatra islands at 9.27 pm amid a Christmas holiday weekend, the Disaster Management Agency said.

The death toll could increase once authorities hear from all stricken areas.

#SeventeenBerduka@hermanseventeen (gitar) @bani_seventeen (bass) & @okiwija (road manager) menjadi korban meninggal dunia pada tsunami Selat Sunda.#SeventeenBand #PrayForSelatSunda#prayforanyer #PrayForBanten #prayforlampung pic.twitter.com/14gvhgGTXf

— SEVENTEEN Band (@SeventeenBand) December 23, 2018

It was the second deadly tsunami to hit Indonesia this year, but the one that killed more than 2500 people on the island of Sulawesi on September 28 was accompanied by a powerful earthquake that gave residents a brief warning before the waves struck.

On Saturday night, the ground did not shake beforehand to alert people to the oncoming wave that ripped buildings from their foundations in seconds and swept terrified concertgoers on a popular resort beach into the sea.

Azki Kurniawan, 16, said his first warning about the tsunami was when people burst into the lobby of the Patra Comfort Hotel shouting, “Sea water rising!”

Kurniawan, who was undergoing vocational training with a group of 30 other students, said he was confused because he had not felt a big earthquake. He said he ran to the parking lot to try to reach his motorbike but discovered it was already flooded.

“Suddenly, a 1-metre wave hit me,” he said, his eyes red and swollen from crying. “I was thrown into the fence of a building about 30 meters (100 feet) from the beach and held onto the fence as strong as I could, trying to resist the water, which felt like it would drag me back into the sea. I cried in fear … ‘This is a tsunami?’ I was afraid I would die.”

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 222 deaths had been confirmed and at least 843 people were injured.

The worst-affected area was the Pandeglang region of Java’s Banten province, which encompasses Ujung Kulon National Park and popular beaches, the agency said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed his sympathy and ordered government agencies to respond quickly to the disaster.

“My deep condolences to the victims in Banten and Lumpung provinces,” he said. “Hopefully, those who are left have patience.”