People have gathered in prayer and visited the mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.
Many openly wept on Thursday as they placed flowers at a mass grave in Ulee Lheue village where more than 14,000 unidentified and unclaimed tsunami victims are buried.
It is one of several mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s northernmost province.
It was one of the areas worst hit by the earthquake and tsunami, along with the district of Aceh Besar.
“We miss them and we still don’t know where they are. All we know is that every year we visit the mass grave in Ulee Lhue and Siron,” said Muhamad Amirudin, 54, who lost two of his children 20 years ago and has never found their bodies.
"This life is only temporary, so we do our best to be useful to others,” Amirudin, visiting the grave with his wife, said.
A powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa.
Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, with more than 170,000 people dying in Indonesia alone.
Even though 20 years have passed, survivors are still grieving the loved ones they lost to the giant wave that flattened buildings all the way to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
Thousands of people gathered to pray at the Baiturrahman Mosque in downtown Banda Aceh, and sirens sounded across the city for three minutes to mark the time of the earthquake that triggered the tsunami.
The infrastructure in Aceh has been rebuilt and is more resilient than it was before the tsunami struck.
Early-warning systems have been installed in coastal areas to alert residents of potential tsunamis, providing crucial time to seek safety.
The rebuilding efforts were made possible by the support of international donors and organisations, who contributed significant funds to help the region recover.
Schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure that were destroyed by the disaster have been rebuilt with enhanced strength and durability, ensuring better preparedness for future challenges.
In Thailand, people gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating waves.
The tsunami also claimed the lives of more than 8000 people in Thailand, including many who remain missing, leaving a deep scar on the nation’s history.
Mourners shed tears and comforted each other as they laid flowers at the village’s tsunami memorial.
About 300 people joined a modest ceremony with Muslim, Christian and Buddhist and prayers.
Urai Sirisuk said she avoids the seaside memorial park the rest of the year, because the loss of her 4-year-old daughter still cuts deep every time she's reminded of it.
“I have this feeling that the sea has taken my child. I’m very angry with it. I can’t even put my foot in the water,” she said.
But, she said, “I still hear her voice in my ears, that she’s calling for me. I can’t abandon her. So I have to be here, for my child.”
In India, hundreds gathered at Marina beach in the southern city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state.
They poured milk into the sea to propitiate gods and offered flowers and prayers for the dead as drums beat in the background.
More than 10,000 people were killed in India, including almost 7000 people in Tamil Nadu alone.
In Sri Lanka, survivors and relatives of tsunami victims gathered at the coastal village of Pereliya and laid flowers at a memorial that commemorates nearly 2000 passengers who died when their train, the Queen of the Sea, was hit by the wave.
Only a few dozen people are believed to have survived.
Overall, more than 35,000 people died in Sri Lanka in the tsunami.
People across the country observed two minutes of silence on Thursday in memory of those who lost their lives.
