11/05/2005

Tsunami victims remembered at St Paul’s service

The Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair have attended a memorial service at St Paul’s to remember the victims of the Asian Tsunami.

Families of the victims and survivors of the disaster, which took place on Boxing Day last year, also attended the service, which was given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

British film director Lord Attenborough, whose daughter Jane, 49, and granddaughter Lucy, 14, were killed in the disaster, also gave a reading at the service.

Around 1,800 people in total attended the event, which included a procession by people from British families who lost relatives in the disaster, as well as representatives from most of the countries affected by the tsunami.

During a two-minute silence, around 300,000 flower petals fell from the dome and galleries of the cathedral, representing those who died in the disaster. Waterlilies represented the victims in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh, jasmine represented those in Indonesia and Burma, lotus for India, pink rose for the Maldives, protea for Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia, orchids for the Seychelles and hibiscus for Malaysia.

The official death toll for the Asian tsunami disaster has been estimated at around 273,800, although the final death toll will probably never be known.

The latest official figures state that 124 Britons died in the disaster, while a further 21 are missing, feared dead.

(KMcA/SP)

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