Indonesia marks tsunami 12 years ago with prayers
Monday marks 12 years since a tsunami killed around 170,000 when an earthquake struck a province in Sumatra island
Banda Aceh, Indonesia — Thousands of Indonesians prayed for their loved ones at mass graves and mosques Monday to mark a tsunami which devastated Aceh province 12 years ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in human history. Some 170,000 lives were lost in the country when a 9.1-magnitude "megathrust" quake struck Aceh, a predominantly Muslim province in the northern tip of Sumatra island, bringing about massive waves that also hit coastal areas as far away as Somalia. "I came here every year to pray for my children, daughter-in-law, and their three children," Maryam, who goes by one name, told AFP, at the Ulee Lheue mass grave, where 14,800 people were buried. The bodies of her family were never found but 65-year-old Maryam, who survived by holding on to a tree trunk, was certain her family were buried in the mass grave as they lived in the vicinity at the time of the tsunami. Graves across the province, including in Siron in Aceh Besar district where more than 46,000 were ...
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