Indonesia quake victims put ghost fears to rest

KARANG TURI CEMETERY, Indonesia, May 31 (Reuters) More than 120 earthquake survivors have cast aside their fear of spirits and built makeshift tents over tombstones in a small Indonesian cemetery in the badly-hit Bantul region.

With tarpaulin stretched overhead and rugs thrown over graves, the survivors have managed to get sleep and escape nightly rain since the Saturday quake. Some even set up cooking equipment over larger, grander headstones.

''Normally we would be too scared to live here but because of the disaster we have nowhere else to go,'' said 50-year-old Hernawan, who buried his elderly mother in the same cemetery just days before the 6.3 magnitude quake.

''We are more afraid of the earthquake than living in the cemetery.'' The Indian Ocean quake killed 5,846 people and left more than 130,000 homeless when it rocked areas around the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta.

Hernawan pointed to the pile of rubble that used to be his home and related how he and his family were lucky to escape before it collapsed.

''We have to forget about the spooky things while we are here. If we don't get any money from the government to rebuild our homes then we will have to stay in the cemetery forever,'' Hernawan said.

The culture in Yogyakarta province, which bore the brunt of the earthquake, is steeped in mysticism with many Muslims mixing religion with traditional Javanese spiritualism.

REUTERS SHB KP1833