PETALING JAYA, July 30 — Siti Nur Ismawida Ismail, 30, who was killed during the earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia, early yesterday morning, was an avid mountain climber who loved adventure at every turn, a friend recalled.
Having known her for about 10 years, Sara Kamaruddin said Siti always looked for new adventures.
“I remember her telling me that she had been hiking in places like Kemensah, Johor, and many other places where she had been to. She loved the mountains and was always motivated to discover new places,’’ she told Malay Mail.
Sara and Siti both attended Kolej Poly-Tech Mara (KPTM) in Bangi for their diploma in accounting before meeting each other again at KPTM Cheras to further their studies.
Throughout their friendship, Sara said Siti had always been a positive influence on her friends.
“She was always cheerful, happy and energetic. I loved her happy-go-lucky attitude and she was always supportive of her friends,’’ she said.
“I met up with her just before she left for Lombok. I was taken aback by the news of her passing, it was so sudden and unexpected. She will be sorely missed.’’
Sara also said that Siti was married but the couple had no children. She said Siti was a lecturer in a private institution in Ampang, and commutes between her home in Seremban and her workplace.
Siti was with 17 other Malaysians who were in a programme to scale Mount Rinjani, an active volcano in East Lombok.
East Lombok police chief M. Eka Fahurrahman said she died when the walls of a lodging house collapsed on her during the 6.4 magnitude earthquake.
“A total of 18 Malaysians are on the mission to climb Mount Rinjani, six are injured while the rest are safe,” he said in a Bernama report.
Siti’s body was reportedly placed at the Sembalun Clinic in Lombok.
Mount Rinjani is a popular destination for tourists and mountain climbers. Rinjani is the second highest mountain in Indonesia with an altitude of 3,726 metres, it is part of the 41,330-hectare Gunung Rinjani National Park.
According to Haziq Wafiy, 26, who had scaled Rinjani with Siti, she was conscious after the building fell on her.
“She was seriously hurt after the wall fell on her. She called out for help with a weak voice but was unconscious when she was taken out of the rubble,” he told Astro Awani.
“On the way to a clinic in East Lombok, she came to consciousness and there was some reaction. When we arrived at the clinic, the doctor provided her with care but she passed away at 8am [yesterday].”
Haziq said the incident happened as they were getting ready to leave for Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said in a Twitter post that the government will bring home Siti’s remains as soon as possible.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is PKR president, also conveyed her condolences to the victim’s family.
Separately, Dr Wan Azizah revealed that Siti was a PKR member from Desa Pandan, Kuala Lumpur.
