18th year commemoration of tsunami

The commemoration of 18 years of tsunami was held at the Tsunami Memorial at Pereliya in Hikkaduwa, Galle yesterday with many members of the families of victims. 

The commemoration commenced with the multi-religious activities followed by offering flowers at the Tsunami Memorial by relatives of the tsunami victims.

A two-minute silence was observed from 9.25 a.m. to 9.27 a.m. yesterday, in remembrance of all those who died in the 2004 tsunami.

Tragedy struck when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in deep seas near Sumatra Islands in Indonesia on 26 December 2004.

The tsunami resulted in the death of nearly 282,000 people from 14 countries including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and India.

The death toll in Sri Lanka was around 35,000.

Around 2,000 people were killed in the Peraliya Thelwatta train accident, which is considered to be the largest single rail disaster in world history by death toll.