Indian Ocean countries hit hardest by the 2004 tsunami have conducted ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the disaster that claimed an estimated 230-thousand lives.
In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned on a new tsunami warning siren at eight-16 a.m. local time Monday morning (0116 UTC), the moment the first wave struck. Indonesia's death toll is thought to be around 170-thousand.
Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaske, unveiled a memorial to the victims in the village of Peraliya, where the giant wave derailed a passenger train and killed more than one thousand people. Sri Lanka has put its number of dead at more than 30-thousand.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra laid a foundation stone for a memorial at Khao Lak, the beach resort hardest hit by the tsunami. More than eight thousand people were killed in Thailand.
India also held tributes for its estimated 18-thousand victims.
In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned on a new tsunami warning siren at eight-16 a.m. local time Monday morning (0116 UTC), the moment the first wave struck. Indonesia's death toll is thought to be around 170-thousand.
Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaske, unveiled a memorial to the victims in the village of Peraliya, where the giant wave derailed a passenger train and killed more than one thousand people. Sri Lanka has put its number of dead at more than 30-thousand.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra laid a foundation stone for a memorial at Khao Lak, the beach resort hardest hit by the tsunami. More than eight thousand people were killed in Thailand.
India also held tributes for its estimated 18-thousand victims.