'We couldn't find their bodies': Indonesian tsunami survivors mourn the dead

Under the shade of trees at a mass grave in Indonesia's Aceh province, survivors and mourners recited Islamic prayers, commemorating the deaths of tens of thousands killed when a tsunami decimated the area two decades ago.

The relatives of the victims sat in a circle on the grass at Siron mass grave, where the bodies of 46,000 people were buried.

It is one of several prayer sites across western Indonesia -- including a grand mosque and other mass graves -- holding ceremonies that drew thousands of mourners who remember the December 26, 2004, tsunami.

The tsunami -- generated by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's western island of Sumatra -- carried in its path a wall of debris including boats, cars, and bodies.

Some, like lecturer Reza Fahlevi, never found the bodies of their loved ones.

"We couldn't find their bodies," he told AFP, breaking down in tears as he recalled how he lost his mother and older brother.

The 35-year-old was spared as he had been at a boarding school when the tsunami hit. He searched for his family for months, distributing flyers and pictures, and even posted an ad in a local newspaper.

"It took me a year. Eventually, we had to accept things with a heavy heart," he said, seated with his wife and toddler son among mourners at Siron mass grave.

"I came here to pray for them even though I don't know if they were truly buried here," he said.

The massive earthquake had generated a series of waves as high as 30 metres (98 feet) which pummelled the coastline of 14 countries around the Indian Ocean all the way to Somalia.

A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to a global disaster database, but Indonesia saw the highest death toll -- with more than 100,000 killed in Aceh alone.

On Thursday, smaller mass graves in the province also held prayer ceremonies, like Ulee Lheue, where around 14,000 people are buried.

Some mourners sat with their heads in their hands remembering their loved ones, while others sprinkled petals on the ground.

In provincial capital Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, relatives of the dead huddled under tents to pray for their loved ones.

Some repeated the widely held view in the province that the tsunami was brought by God to end a decades-long conflict between separatist rebels and the Indonesian government.