By REZA SAIFULLAH and EDNA TARIGAN
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Individuals gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday to mark 20 years for the reason that huge Indian Ocean tsunami hit the area in one in every of fashionable historical past’s worst pure disasters.
Many wept as they positioned flowers at a mass grave in Ulee Lheue village, the place greater than 14,000 unidentified tsunami victims are buried. It’s one in every of a number of mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s northernmost province, which was one of many areas worst hit by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and the large tsunami it triggered.
“We miss them and we nonetheless don’t know the place they’re. All we all know is that yearly we go to the mass grave in Ulee Lhue and Siron,” mentioned Muhamad Amirudin, who misplaced two of his kids 20 years in the past and has by no means discovered their our bodies.
“This life is simply short-term, so we do our greatest to be helpful to others,” Amirudin, visiting the grave along with his spouse, mentioned.
The highly effective earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami that killed round 230,000 folks throughout a dozen nations, reaching so far as East Africa. Some 1.7 million folks had been displaced, principally within the 4 worst-affected nations: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Greater than 170,000 folks died in Indonesia alone.
Though 20 years have handed, survivors in Indonesia are nonetheless grieving the family members they misplaced to the enormous wave that flattened buildings all the best way to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
Lots of of individuals gathered to hope on the Baiturrahman Mosque in downtown Banda Aceh. Sirens sounded throughout town for 3 minutes to mark the time of the earthquake.
Infrastructure in Aceh has been rebuilt and is now extra resilient than earlier than the tsunami struck. Early warning programs have been put in in coastal areas to alert residents of incoming tsunamis, offering essential time to hunt security.
The rebuilding efforts had been made doable by the assist of worldwide donors and organizations, which contributed vital funds to assist the area recuperate. Faculties, hospitals, and important infrastructure destroyed by the catastrophe have been reconstructed.
In Thailand, folks gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating wave within the nation.
The tsunami claimed the lives of over 8,000 folks in Thailand, together with many who stay lacking, leaving a deep scar within the nation’s historical past. Almost 400 our bodies stay unclaimed.
Mourners shed tears and comforted one another as they laid flowers on the village’s tsunami memorial. Round 300 folks joined a modest ceremony with Muslim, Christian and Buddhist prayers.
Urai Sirisuk mentioned she avoids the seaside memorial park the remainder of the 12 months as a result of the lack of her 4-year-old daughter nonetheless cuts deep each time she’s reminded of it.
“I’ve this sense that the ocean has taken my little one. I’m very offended with it. I can’t even put my foot within the water,” she mentioned.
However, she mentioned, “I nonetheless hear her voice in my ears, that she’s calling for me. I can’t abandon her. So I’ve to be right here, for my little one.”
In India, a whole bunch gathered at Marina seaside within the southern metropolis of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. They poured milk into the ocean to propitiate gods and provided flowers and prayers for the lifeless as drums beat within the background.
In response to official knowledge, 10,749 folks had been killed in India, together with practically 7,000 folks in Tamil Nadu alone.
“It has been 20 years for the reason that tsunami,” mentioned 69-year-old Sadayammal, who makes use of one identify. “We’re right here to pay respects to the individuals who misplaced their lives.”
In Sri Lanka, survivors and kin of tsunami victims gathered on the coastal village of Pereliya and laid flowers at a memorial that commemorates practically 2,000 passengers who died when their practice, the Queen of the Sea, was hit by the wave. Only some dozen individuals are believed to have survived.
Anura Ranjith joined the mourners to pay respects to his youthful sister, Anula Ranjani, and her 9-year-old daughter who had been passengers on the practice. Ranjith by no means heard from them after that day.
“I appeared for them all over the place for years and nonetheless, no details about them. Their loss is a superb sorrow and ache for me. I’m nonetheless grieving,” he mentioned.
General, greater than 35,000 folks died in Sri Lanka within the tsunami. Individuals throughout the nation noticed two minutes of silence on Thursday in reminiscence of those that misplaced their lives.
Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Related Press journalists Tian Macleod Ji in Phang Nga, Thailand, Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Aijaz Hussain in New Delhi, Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Eranga Jayawardena in Pereliya, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.
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