Countries Mark Six Months Since Tsunami

Communities around the Indian Ocean devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami yesterday paused to remember the dead and injured, exactly six months after the disaster.

Some held religious services, others laid wreaths at memorials, and some survivors who lost everything held simple ceremonies by themselves on the beaches.

For many it was a time to give thanks for the billions of pounds in aid that is starting to be spent in large amounts. In Aceh, the Indonesian province on the northern tip of Sumatra that bore the brunt of the tragedy, reconstruction chiefs thanked all those who helped, and said the government had announced that £1.55bn had been approved for spending.

"We would like to thank the world, all volunteers, for their assistance," said Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the head of Jakarta's reconstruction agency.

Andrew Steer, the head of the World Bank in Indonesia, said survivors in Aceh would soon notice significant improvements. "By October or November you will get a sense of, wow, this place is humming."

About 230,000 people were killed or disappeared after a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the north-western tip of Sumatra. It generated a huge tsunami which hit 13 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.