The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Indonesia

Three years after Indian Ocean nations were lashed by massive tsunamis, sombre ceremonies were held Wednesday to recall those lost in one of the worst natural catastrophes in modern times.

In Indonesia, mass prayers were held outdoors and at mosques across Aceh, the staunchly Muslim province at the northern tip of Sumatra island, where some 168,000 lives were claimed by the earthquake-triggered walls of water.

The toll here was more than half the 220,000 killed in a dozen nations, including Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, with thousands of unidentified victims buried in mass graves hastily dug in the disaster's aftermath.

Wednesday's main ceremony was held outdoors at a village on the outskirts of Calang, one of the areas of Aceh obliterated in the disaster.

"I came here to pray together with other residents. I pray for my wife and my child who died in the tsunami, hoping they are now resting in peace," said Alimudin, a 61-year-old retired local government official.