Prayers, tears mark 20 years since deadly tsunami

Survivors rummage through debris in Indonesia. File pic

People started gathering in prayer today and visiting mass graves in Aceh, one of the worst-hit areas by the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami which killed an estimated 230,000 people across a dozen countries.

The tsunami was triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off the west coast of North Sumatra, Indonesia, at 7.59 am local time on 26 December 2004. Indonesia suffered the highest number of deaths, but India, Sri Lanka and Thailand were also badly hit.

People in Thailand gather to mark the anniversary. PIC/SKY NEWS

Many wept openly at the 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. Footage also showed people visiting a mass grave in Siron.

In Thailand, people gathered in Phang Nga province to honour the victims and those affected. Survivors and relatives of tsunami victims in Sri Lanka gathered at the coastal village of Pereliya and laid flowers at a memorial commemorating nearly 2,000 passengers who died when their train, the Queen of the Sea, was hit by the wave. Just a few dozen people are believed to have survived.

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