FLORES, thekabarnews.com—A resident of East Nusa Tenggara has apologized. This apology came after a video showing him stomping on food assistance for survivors of the magnitude-7.7 Flores earthquake circulated widely on social media.

The incident occurred on Monday, September 7, at the Nanga Lok disaster post in Golo Lijun village, Elar district, East Manggarai regency. The man identified himself as Saimin Sadang Syawal.

The footage showed instant noodle packets and biscuits on the floor as Saimin complained about aid distributed through the East Manggarai administration.

He claimed residents received three packets of instant noodles and one packet of biscuits in the distribution.

“This aid consists of three packets of noodles and one packet of Malkist biscuits from the local government today,” Saimin said in the video.

His statement reflected his account of the package received at Nanga Lok.

Authorities had not published a complete distribution manifest for the location when this article was prepared. The video alone cannot establish the quantity of all assistance delivered to each household.

East Manggarai Police spokesperson AKP Irmawan Pujianto said officers visited Saimin to seek clarification.

According to the police account, Saimin admitted stepping on the food. He said frustration over the assistance had affected his judgment.

Golo Lijun village head Yovita Mbaju also confirmed that police officers had met the resident after the video spread online. No criminal case had been publicly announced in connection with the incident.

Saimin later released another video apologizing to the public and the East Manggarai administration.

“What happened was a serious lapse in judgment. I made the statement without thinking because I felt the assistance did not meet our post-earthquake needs,” he said, as quoted by Detik Bali.

He also withdrew his earlier remarks. He acknowledged that he should not have recorded and shared the act on WhatsApp and Facebook.

The controversy occurred during a difficult recovery period following the earthquake that struck Flores on August 15.

BMKG recorded the magnitude-7.7 earthquake at 4:58:23 a.m. WIB, with an epicenter about 30 kilometers northeast of Nagekeo and a depth of 15 kilometers.

BMKG attributed the earthquake to thrust movement along the Flores Back-arc Thrust. The agency had recorded 3,394 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 1.1 to 6.2 by August 20. BMKG continued monitoring the sequence.

A BNPB update cited by ANTARA recorded 31,372 displaced people and 17,039 damaged homes in East Manggarai as of August 23.

Government agencies and humanitarian groups have since distributed food, water and emergency supplies across affected districts.

The viral footage does not represent the conduct of all earthquake survivors. However, the complaint shows the need for authorities to publish clear distribution data.

In addition, they should verify household needs and provide accessible channels for residents to report shortages without damaging urgently needed aid.