Indonesia commemorates 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

New Delhi, Dec 26 (ANI): Indonesia commemorated the fourth anniversary of the tsunami that devastated the coastal areas of Indian Ocean on December 24, 2004, and killed over 230,000 people, with 170,000 of them in Aceh province.

According to head of the provincial development agency Rahman Lubis, the commemoration took place in Meulaboh town at the west coast of the province in the northern tip of Sumatra island, which was hit the hardest during the tsunami triggered by a strong quake in December 2004.

National flags were raised up by a half for three days across the province and many sailors stopped sailing on as they commemorate the sad day, he said.

The people of Aceh province prayed in mosques throughout the dominantly-Islamic province for the soul of the death and begged for a better future life.

Ceremonies were carried out at massive graves in the capital of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar town, according to Lubis.

"This day has been made as a special day for them (sailors and Acehnese). So they stop working today," he said.

"With this commemoration of the four-year of tsunami, we expect more improvement in our province," he added.

Under a four-year of 7-billion U.S. dollar reconstruction and rehabilitation scheme, Aceh has witnessed improvement as many buildings of schools, roads, government offices, residence houses and other infrastructure, have been built. (ANI)