Vienna commemorates pandemic victims with a 'sea of lights'
Tens of thousands of Vienna residents have turned out to participate in a “sea of lights” commemoration for the more than 13,000 Austrians who have died in the coronavirus pandemic
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tens of thousands of Vienna residents turned out Sunday night to participate in a “sea of lights” commemoration for the more than 13,000 Austrians who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.
The event, supported by dozens of civil society organizations, drew more than 30,000 people, according to Austrian media.
They organized a chain of more than 13,000 candles stretching around Vienna’s central ring road, one for each person who died in Austria, and observed a moment of silence.
The commemoration was also intended to show solidarity with health care workers following several weeks of anti-coronavirus demonstrations in the Austrian capital. On Saturday, tens of thousands again turned out to protest the government’s pandemic-related restrictions, as well as a planned national vaccine mandate.
“We are simply people from civil society who want to send a signal,” organizer Daniel Landau told the Austrian newspaper Kurier.
In addition to those who attended in person, many more — including Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen — shared photos of candles lit in their windows on social media with the hashtag #YesWeCare.
___
Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.