BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — From India to Indonesia, communal prayers, shared meals and candlelight vigils were held today to honor victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Ibrahim Musa, a 42-year-old civil servant in the Aceh province of Indonesia, said it feels like yesterday that his family was washed out to sea.
“Even after four years, I cannot forget how I lost hold of my wife and baby,” he said. “I have tried in vain to look for them for three years. Now I have no choice but to accept their departure as destiny.”
Musa was to gather with thousands of other people along the Aceh coast, where a massive earthquake triggered the tsunami that killed 260,000 people — more than half of them in Indonesia.
On Thai beaches, where more than 5,000 died, family members will light candles and a ceremony will honor hundreds of unidentified victims, officials said.
In India, where about 10,000 died, interfaith prayers and a moment of silence will be held.
