BANGKOK: Coastal countries around the Indian Ocean held memorial events on Thursday for the victims of a 2004 tsunami that claimed the lives of around 230,000 people.
Thousands of people in Indonesia’s western-most province of Aceh, the area with the highest death toll from the tsunami, joined in a prayer led by a leading Muslim cleric to commemorate the natural disaster,15 years to the day after it happened.
The commemoration serves as a medium for a reflection, appreciation, and mitigation, Aceh tourism and cultural agency spokesman Ramadhani Sulaiman said.
“Reflection means the disaster should be a reminder that humans are powerless before God,” he said. “The event is also a remembrance to raise awareness on disaster mitigation.”
The tsunami, one of modern history’s deadliest natural disasters, was triggered by a magnitude-9 earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The tsunami struck Indian Ocean countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India and as far away as Africa.
In Indonesia, fishermen and sailors were barred from going to the sea, while shops and schools were closed as Acehnese visited a mass grave and knelt in prayers for their loved ones who lost their lives. In India, where more than 12,400 people lost their lives in the tsunami, thousands of people gathered at memorial events.
In the town of Nagapattinam, one of the worst-hit coastal areas of the southern province of Tamil Nadu, people marched to a memorial park dedicated to the victims, local administration official Praveen Nayar said.
They left floral tributes and observed a minute of silence at the time the tsunami struck the coast on December 26, 2004.
In the village of Nagore, prayers were held at a Muslim shrine where more than 300 victims were buried, irrespective of their religion,the Hindu newspaper reported. In another village, Tarangbadi, a multi-faith prayer was held. A Thai government-sponsored anniversary event and religious services, held at a tsunami memorial park in the southern province of Phang Nga, was attended by hundreds of people and featured Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim ceremonies.
Portraits of the Thai victims — thought to number over 8,000 — were on display as friends and relatives paid their respects and placed religious offerings.
Nipon Bunyamanee, Deputy Interior Minister, told reporters at the ceremony it was meant to educate and remind the local community of the catastrophe.
“A lesson we’ve learnt is that we don’t have enough manpower to cope with such a problem on our own and we have to rely on help from the community,” Nipon said.
“Therefore, informing the people and creating a strong network is the most efficient way of preparing ourselves.” Beach resorts in Phang Nga in the south were some of the hardest hit areas in Thailand.
A total of 394 unidentified bodies from the disaster are buried at the Bang Ma Ruan cemetery in the province, Police Lieutenant Colone lJirawat Sararam, deputy chief of Takua Pa district police, said. — dpa
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