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Asia to mark tsunami anniversary with prayers, silence
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-26 11:15
Countries around the Indian Ocean hold ceremonies on Monday to remember the
many thousands who died in last year's tsunami, one of the deadliest disasters
in modern history.
A year on, a huge reconstruction operation has brought hope but the pain of
losing loved ones is still raw, some survivors say.
The affected nations will mark the event with mass prayers, moments of
silence and visits to the graves of the dead.
Alfiyati (C), an Acehnese woman who lost one
of her children in the Indian Ocean tsunami, cries after praying at a
memorial service for the tsunami victims in Landung, Banda Aceh, December
25, 2005. Construction spending in Aceh, devastated by last year's
tsunami, will soon reach $2 billion a year, the United Nations Development
Programme said. A 9.15 magnitude earthquake triggered the tsunami which
left 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh
alone.[Reuters] | In one of the first ceremonies, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
joined in a moment of silence at the Baiturrahman mosque in a Banda Aceh coastal
suburb flattened by the disaster.
The tsunami left nearly 170,000 dead or missing and half a million homeless
in Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, making it the worst-hit
area in the region.
Total dead and missing throughout the countries affected, which also included
Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, are estimated at more than 231,000.
Yudhoyono is also due to participate in a test of a warning system designed
to limit casualties from future tsunamis, as well as join up to 10,000 people at
evening prayers at the historic Baiturrahman mosque in Banda Aceh, capital of
Aceh province.
In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a member of the royal
family who lost her son will be among those speaking in the resort island
Phuket, source of some of the most graphic footage of the waves.
A powerful undersea earthquake off Sumatra island triggered the tsunami,
which raced across the Indian Ocean before smashing into shorelines as far away
as Somalia in Africa. In Aceh, Sri Lanka, India and around Phuket in Thailand,
the waves, up to 10 metres (33 feet) swept holidaymakers off beaches, smashed
hotels and in some areas destroyed whole towns.
An Acehnese child sleeps as her father reads
the Koran during a memorial service for last year's Indian Ocean tsunami
victims in the district of Landung in Banda Aceh December 25, 2005.
[Reuters] | In Banda Aceh, the tsunami, actually a series of waves, travelled several
kilometres inland, sweeping up nearly everything in its path.
Simple Buddhist ceremonies had marked Christmas Day in Thailand's tsunami
zone on Sunday as relatives of victims remembered their loved ones.
"I will have to die before I can forget," said 80-year-old Thai Sorjia
Aiawsakul, who lost her son, daughter-in-law and niece in the December 26
tragedy.
In Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapakse will hold a memorial at a site near
Galle where more than 1,000 passengers are thought to have died when the waves
engulfed their train. Later, women survivors will form a candle-light chain
along the coast.
India will unveil memorials in at least two of the sites struck by the
disaster.
Reconstruction efforts are underway throughout the region. Government and
multilateral agencies have pledged more than $7.3 billion in aid, while global
private donations amount to more than $5.7 billion.
Even so, a year after the disaster many survivors remain in tents or
temporary barracks, and infrastructure such as washed-away roads has only been
partly rebuilt.
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