Indonesia and Thailand mark 20 years of devastating Boxing Day tsunami with sombre ceremonies

One of modern history’s worst natural disasters killed over 228,000 people in 2004

Countries across Asia held ceremonies to remember the hundreds of thousands of people who were killed during the massive Indian Ocean tsunami two decades ago.

People gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India to mark 20 years since 228,000 people lost their lives in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history as 30m-high waves lashed about a dozen countries.

The tsunami was triggered by a powerful earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on 26 December 2024, reaching as far as east Africa.

Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries, but Indonesia recorded the most deaths at over 170,000.

India women offer tributes in memory of the victims of the 2004 tsunami on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy (AP)

Today, many wept as they placed flowers at a mass grave in Ulee Lheue village, where over 14,000 unidentified tsunami victims are buried. It is one of several mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s northernmost province, which was one of the areas worst affected by the disaster.

Hundreds of people gathered to pray at the Baiturrahman mosque in downtown Banda Aceh as sirens sounded in the city for three minutes to mark the time of the earthquake.

“We miss them and we still do not know where they are. All we know is that every year we visit the mass graves in Ulee Lheue and Siron,” Muhamad Amirudin, who lost two of his children and has never found their bodies, told the AP.

“This life is only temporary, so we do our best to be useful to others,” Mr Amirudin, visiting the Ulee Lheue grave with his wife, said.

Family members chant next to photographs of tsunami victims in Thailand (EPA)

In Thailand, people gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating wave in the country.

The tsunami claimed the lives of over 8,000 people in Thailand. Many remain missing and nearly 400 bodies are unclaimed to this day.

Mourners shed tears and comforted each other as they laid flowers at the village’s tsunami memorial. Around 300 people joined a modest ceremony with Muslim, Christian and Buddhist prayers.

Railway workers carried flowers to offer a monument built in memory of those killed during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka (AP)

Sri Lankans across multiple religions came together to hold ceremonies for more than 35,322 people killed in the tragedy. Relatives and survivors also gathered to remember the Ocean Queen Express train, which was torn from its track by the massive waves, killing about 1,000 people. Only a few dozen people are believed to have survived.

In India, hundreds gathered at the Marina beach in the southern city of Chennai. They poured milk into the sea to propitiate gods and offered flowers and prayers for the dead as drums beat in the background.

According to official data, 10,749 people were killed in India, including nearly 7,000 people in Tamil Nadu alone.

“It has been 20 years since the tsunami,” said 69-year-old Sadayammal, who uses one name. “We are here to pay respects to the people who lost their lives.”

Deaths from the tsunami were also recorded in Somalia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.