By Prensa Latina
Jakarta : Thousands of people paid tribute to the victims of the tsunami that swept away the coast of several Asian countries, taking a toll of 226,000 lives.
Waves up to 30 meters high caused by a 9.0-degree earthquake in the Richter scale devastated 12 countries on the Indian Ocean, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh.
In Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the province of Aceh, where he and local authorities attended a tsunami drill on the coastal area of Cilegon, in the town of Banten.
Residents in the town of Calang, on the northwestern tip of the island of Sumatra, attended a religious services to honor nearly 170,000 victims in the region.
Smaller ceremonies were held at common graves and mosques in the entire province of Aceh, which is close to the epicenter of the earthquake and where two-thirds of the victims were reported.
Groups of monks lighted incense on the Thai island of Phuket to pay tribute to 5,400 tsunami victims.
Similar ceremonies were held in the most affected beaches of Phang Nga, Puket and Krabi, a popular tourist resort.
In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, in India, thousands of tsunami survivors prayed and participated in a procession.
Frustration prevails due to slow rehabilitation and the government’s unfulfilled promised.
Three years after the natural disasters, dozens of nongovernmental organization are still working to rebuild the tsunami-hit regions, and thousands of people are still homeless.
Authorities in each country called on the people to mobilize immediately in case of new emergencies.