Indonesia’s disaster agency spokesman, who was respected for informing Indonesians accurately and quickly about the country’s frequent natural calamities, has died. He was 49.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho died on Sunday morning in Guangzhou, China, where he had been undergoing treatment since June.
Nugroho revealed in early 2018 that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and told he might not survive more than a year. As his personal tragedy unfolded, the year would become one of the worst in recent memory for natural disasters in Indonesia. Thousands died in a series of earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and landslides.
Nugroho continued to work while enduring intense pain, typing news releases from his hospital bed after undergoing chemotherapy, updating social media, holding press conferences and fielding calls from reporters at any hour.
“We all feel the loss of Sutopo. The foremost figure in delivering disaster information in Indonesia,” the agency said.
In a country where many officials are notorious for economy with the truth or outright distortion, Nugroho distinguished himself by marshaling facts, combating hoaxes and frequently drawing attention to lack of disaster preparedness and human-made factors that worsen natural calamities.
Nugroho was born in the central Java town of Boyolali on Oct. 7, 1969.
In a tweet in May, he likened the relentless spread of cancer throughout his body to the dispersal of ash from Bali’s frequently erupting Mount Agung volcano.
