INDONESIA: Banda Aceh residents visit mass graves to remember loved ones lost in the tsunami

Record ID: 858804

  • Title: INDONESIA: Banda Aceh residents visit mass graves to remember loved ones lost in the tsunami
  • Date: 27th December 2009
  • Summary: MOURNERS SITTING NEAR MONUMENT FAMILIES SITTING UNDER TREE AT MASS GRAVE SITE, RECITING VERSES FROM THE KORAN
  • Embargoed: 11th January 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • City:
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,History
  • Reuters ID: LVAE68WO7V88A3POVV3ONH9MD6BW
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  • Story Text: People from all over Banda Aceh visited the mass graves of tsunami victims on Saturday (December 26), to mourn loved ones who were swept away by giant waves triggered by a massive earthquake off Indonesia's coast five years ago.
    Dressed in new clothes, they came by car, on foot and public transport to pay their respects to family members who are believed to be buried in the vast grave where most of the people who died in Banda Aceh are buried.
    Families sat by the newly-erected white and blue memorial, which is shaped like a giant wave, praying and reading the Koran.
    Others sat under shady trees and quietly remembered the family members they lost.
    Indonesia bore the brunt of the Indian Ocean Tsunami which crashed into 13 countries, killing hundreds of thousands. Several mass graves were dug to hold thousands of bodies in the aftermath.
    Over the last few years massive reconstruction aid has helped rebuild most of the provincial capital of Nanggore Aceh Darrusalam Province, on top of the ruins of the old city. Tidy brick houses now line wide paved streets in places were dirt tracks and wooden houses stood.
    There were few openly distraught people at the mass grave site on Saturday (December 26). Many said that they had done their best to forget their loss and were now looking towards the future.
    "In Aceh, I think there is already much that has changed now as the government and also the international community supported us. In the future, we hope the Indonesian government will look after the Aceh people," said Khaeruddin, a Banda Aceh resident and tsunami survivor who lost 13 close family members and is now left with four.
    Many international aid agencies have left or are winding down their operations in the area. Some were worried they would not get the facilities needed to fully rebuild their lives.
    "After the tsunami, how can people run away if there is another tsunami and escape if all facilities are not yet done? This is still a problem for us," said Tenku Syaifulmar, another Banda Aceh resident who lost his wife, three children and 152 relatives in the calamity.
    Syaifulmar said there were still houses that had not been rebuilt in his neighbourhood and facilities including multi-storey emergency escape buildings that people can flee to, that have not been completed.
    Some of the visitors to the mass grave traveled from other parts of the island for the anniversary.
    Merry, who lives in Medan, another city on Sumatra island flew down to mark the anniversary of the death of her mother and three sisters. All four perished in the disaster.
    She said seeing the city in better shape than it was before the tsunami made her feel better.
    "I see in Banda Aceh a lot of change and there are many houses, compared to before the tsunami, it has improved," she said.
    More than 166,000 people died in Indonesia alone, and hundreds of thousands more were left homeless.
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