Jakarta, Dec 26 (EFE).- Indonesia on Thursday remembered its 167,000 victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at the Sumatran city of Banda Aceh’s Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, one of the only buildings to withstand the huge earthquake and waves at ground zero of one of the greatest natural disasters of modern recorded history.
The acting governor of the Aceh province, Safrizal Zakaria Ali, and the popular cleric Abdullah Gymnastiar led the rituals, which were attended by hundreds of faithful dressed in white for prayers along the gardens of the complex.
The hosts threw water and flowers on a grave as a sign of mourning and remembrance for the deceased.
«On that day, witnesses saw how the disaster quickly changed the lives of millions,» recalled the politician during his livestreamed speech at the memorial event.
“Thousands of children lost their parents, and thousands of parents lost their children (…) cities were devastated.”
A magnitude-9.1 earthquake struck at 7.58 am local time about 120 kilometers west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, creating waves up to 30 meters high that hit Banda Aceh about 20 minutes later.
Some 61,000 people in Banda Aceh, around 25 percent of its residents, were killed in this town situated at the northern tip of Sumatra and considered the epicenter of the tragedy that also struck other nations around the Indian Ocean.
One survivor at the ceremony, Delisa Fitri Rahmadani, said she was 7 years old and living with her family at the beach in Banda Aceh when the disaster struck, and she was carried kilometers by the torrents of water, clinging to a plank of wood. She lost her leg, as well as her mother and sister, whose bodies have never been found.
She said since her father died in 2015, she has been given love and care by people, including a man who looked after her for days in the immediate aftermath until she could receive medical attention.
“I feel it is my duty to repay their kindness by showing today that I have not just survived, I have thrived,” she said.
A photo of the solitary mosque standing a few hundred meters from the coast, while everything around it was washed away by the waters, became one of the most iconic images of the natural disaster.
Other coastal towns in Sumatra, such as Calang and Meulaboh, were also affected by this tsunami that left some 167,000 dead in the country, according to official figures.
However, the tsunami and the scale of human tragedy it caused led the Islamic separatist guerrillas operating in Aceh and the Indonesian government to reach a peace agreement and put an end to more than three decades of conflict.
«Amazingly, the tsunami opened the door to peace in Aceh. The conflict that lasted 30 years suddenly saw a light at the end of the tunnel. This disaster opened everyone’s eyes that peace was the best possibility for building a better Aceh,» said the governor.
In addition to the events scheduled in Indonesia, other countries, such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and India have organized ceremonies to remember this natural disaster that claimed the lives of more than 228,000 people in 14 countries around the Indian Ocean.
The waves even hit the east coast of Africa, with the furthest death from the epicenter recorded in the South African town of Rooi-Els, more than 8,000 kilometers away. EFE
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