Asia remembers tsunami

INDONESIA: People across Asia paused Saturday to remember the day five years ago when an undersea earthquake unleashed a devastating wave that killed more than 220,000 people.

A solemn day of prayers and remembrance to mark one of the world's worst natural disasters was held in Indonesia's Aceh province which lost almost 170,000 people in the Asian tsunami of December 26, 2004.

Prayers were said in mosques Islamic province and beside mass graves near the local capital of Banda Aceh.

At the site of one of the graves, where more than 14,000 unidentified victims are buried, an elderly woman sat on the ground weeping and reciting Koranic verses for the 40 members of her family who died.

"Five years on, Acehnese people with support from international communities have managed to rise again and to lead a new life to rebuild their social, economic and cultural life in a peaceful situation," he told about 1,000 residents, schoolchildren and officials.

Low-key commemorations marked the anniversary in southern India, which bore the brunt of the disaster in that country, with an estimated 6,500 deaths.

On Marina Beach in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, women from nearby fishing hamlets poured milk into the sea and showered flower petals over the water as a mark of respect for those who died. In India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, multi-faith prayers were held in the archipelago's capital Port Blair for about 4,000 people killed by the tsunami across the island chain.

In Thailand, where 5,395 people died according to an official toll, religious ceremonies were held on the beach in Phang Nga on the west coast, which was worst hit, and on the southern tourist isle of Phuket.

Banda Aceh, Sunday, AFP