The policeman who was pronounced dead after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami is found ALIVE by his family

A police officer who was pronounced dead after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami has been found alive after suffering a mental breakdown amid the tragedy and ending up in a psychiatric hospital for the past 16 years.

Abrip Asep was on guard when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Indonesia on boxing day in 2004, his family said.

His relatives had a broken heart after believing he was among the more than 230,000 people who had died when waves of up to 100 feet high swept across Southeast Asia.

But luckily, Asep has been found and reunited with his family after nearly two decades of separation, according to local media.

Police officer Abrip Asep, who was pronounced dead after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, has been found alive after suffering a mental breakdown amid the tragedy and ending up in a psychiatric hospital for the past 16 years. In the photo: Asep before he disappeared (left) and Asep now in the psychiatric hospital (right)

Abrip Asep was on guard when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Indonesia on boxing day in 2004, his family said. In the photo: the aftermath of the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia

Asep was found in a psychiatric hospital in Aceh province, Indonesia, after suffering mental health problems due to the traumas he witnessed during the tsunami.

His family had disappeared after the natural disaster affected the province of Aceh, the westernmost of Indonesia, and was later pronounced dead.

But his relatives said they made the shocking discovery that Asep was still alive in recent weeks after sharing photos in a chat of family groups on social media.

A relative said, “I couldn’t believe it, 17 years without news and we thought he died. We didn’t know he was still alive.”

Asep (left) was found in a psychiatric hospital in Aceh province, Indonesia, after suffering mental health problems due to the traumas he witnessed during the tsunami.

Local police confirmed that the man found in the psychiatric hospital was Abrip, who was reported missing during the tsunami and later pronounced dead.

An Aceh regional police spokesman said: “Although he suffers from mental illness due to the tsunami, his family is very grateful to have found him alive.”

It is unclear why his family was not notified that he was in the psychiatric hospital.

The archipelago nation of Indonesia was the hardest hit country in Southeast Asia when the Indian Ocean earthquake was followed by a tsunami on December 26, 2004.

The Indonesian archipelago nation was the hardest hit country in Southeast Asia when the Indian Ocean earthquake was followed by a tsunami on December 26, 2004. Pictured: The aftermath of the tsunami in the coastal zone of Banda Aceh, Indonesia

The tsunami was the effect of a submarine earthquake just after 1 a.m. on Boxing Day, the third largest earthquake ever recorded in a seismograph, with a magnitude of 9.0-9.3.

The gigantic movement of water that followed saw waves of up to 100 feet affecting the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Indonesia was severely affected by the tsunami, suffering at least 167,000 casualties, a figure believed to be closer to 200,000.

But this is unlikely to ever be confirmed, as thousands of bodies could never be recovered as the powerful waves dragged them into the sea.