Some Of The Most Heartbreaking Moments Of 2015 That Left Us All Shocked
It was a year full of deaths and tragedies.
By Sadho Ram — 29 Dec 2015, 06:16 PM
1. Sabah Earthquake
The 2015 Sabah earthquake that struck Ranau, Sabah, with a momentary magnitude of 6.0 on 5 June, although lasted for 30 seconds, claimed the lives of 18 people, with most of the deaths being students from Tanjong Katong Primary School in Singaporean.
It was the strongest earthquake to affect Malaysia since 1976.
2. Nepal Double Earthquake
The 2015 Nepal earthquake completely devasted the small country.
It killed over 9,000 people, injured more than 23,000, and triggered an avalanche on Mt. Everest. Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed in the Kathmandu Valley.
A major aftershock followed on 12 May 2015, which killed more than 200 people and left over 2,500 injured. The country is now reeling with the after effects on a myriad seemingly unrelated aspects: human trafficking, mental health as well as disease and healthcare system damages.
3. Rohingya Refugee Crisis
On 14 May, a fishing boat carrying several hundred desperate migrants from Myanmar was spotted adrift in the Andaman Sea between Malaysia and Thailand. Collectively dubbed as 'boat people' by international media, they were a part of an exodus in which thousands of people took to the sea in with no country willing to take them in.
If that was not enough, the traffickers who were trafficking the Rohingyas, abandoned their boats in the middle of the sea, resulting in deaths of over 1200 people. And in desperation, some of them resorted to drinking urine.
4. Mass Graves Of Migrants
Malaysia police discovered at least 139 mass graves along the country's border with Thailand. The bodies were found in 28 abandoned forest camps that authorities believe smugglers built to hide migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Not just that, even children were held at the camps. Autopsies conducted on the remains found there indicated the victims had starved to death or had died of disease.
5. Masjid Al-Haram Tragedy
On the holiest day of the week for Muslims, a gigantic construction crane collapsed over Masjid Al-Haram, killing 111 people and leaving 394 injured. The city was preparing for the Hajj pilgrimage.
It was cited as the deadliest crane collapse in modern history.
6. Orang Asli Girls
Out of seven Orang Asli kids who ran way from school, only two girls were found alive after being reported missing for 47 days. Although Norieen Yaakob and Miksudiar Aluj were found safe, they were in gaunt and emaciated condition with the two girls weighing about 15kg.
However, the children could've been found much sooner if search and rescue (SAR) teams had expanded their search to the upstream of Sungai Perias. Also, the search efforts were said to have been less than convincing.
7. Death Of Alan Kurdi
In the wee hours of the morning of 2 September, Nilüfer Demir, a photojournalist saw something so chilling on the Turkish shoreline it left her petrified. For there lay the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian boy, photos of whose — his face into the sand at shore's edge — went on to prompt global outrage and bring a much needed international attention on the humanitarian crisis of Syrian refugees trying to flee their war-torn country, often with tragic consequences.
8. Bernard Then's Beheading
On 17 November, Bernard Then Ted Fen, a Sarawakian engineer held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Islamist terror group, was beheaded just hours after Prime Minister Najib Razak landed in Manila for the two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
His remains were buried immediately after he was beheaded. After a few weeks, a headless body was found buried in a shallow grave on a hilly jungle and was in an advanced state of decomposition. It was believed to be of Bernard Then.