Teen returns home to find family among quake dead

MALALAK, Indonesia (CNN) -- Septiani Lenianingsih stands off to the side, away from the crowds that have gathered to watch the backhoe at work.

The land the machine is plowing through was once the village of Malalak, but it's now a mass grave.

Septiani, 18, watches silently, speaking only in whispers to her uncle who is helping direct the search for bodies swallowed up in the massive landslide triggered by Sumatra's earthquake last week.

She was at her boarding school when it all happened, she tells us. She learned from the news that her village was damaged and tried frantically to get in touch with her family over the phone. No one had the heart to tell her her family was dead.

When she arrived at the site where her home once stood in Malalak, there were no younger brothers and sister running out to greet her. All that was left in place of her home was dirt.

She was left orphaned, alone. Her young face reflects the intense sorrow she is still getting used to.

Read the full story more at the source.

Source: cnn.com