Survivors flock to mourn 15 years after Boxing Day tsunami
BANDA ACEH: Thousands of people knelt in prayer in Indonesia’s Aceh province at ceremonies yesterday marking the 15th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.
The massive Dec 26, 2004, tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island.
The giant wall of water killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries as far away as East Africa. Indonesia’s Aceh province, which was closest to the earthquake, was hit first and hardest.
More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone, about three-quarters of the overall death toll.
“No words can describe our feelings when we tearfully saw thousands of corpses lying on this ground 15 years ago,” acting Aceh governor Nova Iriansyah said at a ceremony in Sigli, a town in Pidie district.
“And now, we can see how people in Aceh were able to overcome suffering and rise again, thanks to assistance from all Indonesians and from people all over the world,” he added.
Weeping survivors and others attended religious services and memorial ceremonies.
Relatives of the dead and religious and community leaders also presented flowers at mass graves of tsunami victims in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
On a grassy field in Aceh Besar district where at least 47,000 victims were laid to rest, family members and relatives prayed, scattered flower petals and comforted each other.
Among them was Nurhayati who lost her youngest daughter in the disaster.
“I come here every year because I miss her so much, she was only 17, just started college,” the 65-year-old said, sobbing.
“It’s been 15 years but even until now every time I see an ocean, even on TV, I shudder and feel like a big wave would be coming soon,” she said.
Muhammad Ikramullah was only 13 when the tsunami hit, killing his parents and younger sibling. He spent years moving around, living with relatives and his parents’ friends until he was able to provide for himself.
“I am still traumatised, I don’t think I will ever forget what happened,” the 28-year-old said.
The remains of his family have never been found, but like most people who visit the mass grave every year, Mr Ikramullah only wanted to pray for his loved ones even though their bodies might not be buried there.
Years after the disaster, bodies are still being discovered. In 2018, the remains of dozens of people were found in a newly built housing complex.
Some have never found where their family members were buried.
“I don’t know where my mother was buried,” Jony China said.
“But I keep coming here because I have a feeling she was close,” he said.
Shops and offices were closed, boats were not allowed to sail and flags were being flown at half staff throughout Aceh yesterday and today.
Disaster-prone Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that is home to 260 million people, lies along the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Yesterday’s commemoration came four days after the anniversary of last year’s Sunda Strait tsunami, which followed the eruption and partial collapse of the Anak Krakatau volcano.
That tsunami struck coastal regions of Banten on Indonesia’s main island of Java and parts of southern Sumatra island, leaving more than 400 people dead and 14,000 injured.