As the four-story tower shook, his colleagues managed to evacuate, leaving Agung as the last person remaining. With no other option, he jumped from the tower, resulting in a broken leg and severe internal injuries.
Agung was taken to a hospital where he received basic care, but unfortunately, he died from his injuries while awaiting a helicopter transfer to a more advanced facility.
The earthquake and tsunami on September 28, 2018, claimed 4,340 lives in Sulawesi.
Recollecting the event, Batik Airways pilot Mafella shared with the BBC: “I was rushing to leave. There was a voice in my head that told me, just get out of here immediately.”
“I told my crew and the ground crew to speed up,” he said.
At 6.02 pm, Mafella’s plane took off a few minutes ahead of schedule. He described Agung as a ‘guardian angel’ and a ‘national hero’.
Unaware of the catastrophe they were escaping, passengers on the plane had no idea of the unfolding disaster, whereas Mafella witnessed enormous waves approaching the coastline from the cockpit.
“I saw it was a wave moving in a circle with a huge radius, it was getting bigger and bigger but I didn’t know what it was,” he told the publication.
“I tried calling the air traffic controller a few times to tell him that I saw something, but there was no answer,” he noted.
It was only later that Mafella learned why there was no response.
Mafella recounted: “I’m in a WhatsApp group with other air traffic controllers and one of them told me that they had asked Agung to get away from the tower. But he said wait, wait, Batik is still here.”
“When I found out what happened, I was speechless,” he added.