Tsunami Remembered - One Year On

26/12/2005| IslamWeb

Emotional ceremonies have been held to mark one of the worst disasters in history - on the anniversary of the day a wall of water claimed over 230,000 lives.

In Thailand, more than 2,000 foreign tourists were among those who perished.

Their grieving relatives joined local mourners to remember and reflect.
A powerful undersea earthquake off Sumatra triggered the tsunami, which raced across the Indian Ocean before smashing into shorelines as far away as Somalia in Africa.

It brought death and destruction to 12 countries in the region.

The worst hit was Indonesia, where more than 130,000 people were killed. A further 37,000 are missing.

In the province of Aceh, a memorial service was held with a minute of silence to mark the terrible moment when the tsunami struck.

Here, it travelled several kilometres inland, sweeping up nearly everything in its path.

Whole communities were devastated.

This unprecedented disaster sparked an unprecedented response from the world community.

But one year on, the pain is still raw.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Acehnese boy, Farhan Armanda, 2, stands beside his mother as she prays during a memorial service for last year's tsunami victims in Banda Aceh, December 25, 2005. (Reuters)

www.islamweb.net