Germany commemorates tsunami victims

Dusseldorf, Dec 26 : German survivors and relatives of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami gathered for a memorial service in Dusseldorf Saturday, five years after the catastrophe which claimed 230,000 lives.

Amongst the victims were 539 Germans, most of whom were visiting the region during their Christmas holidays. A further 13 Germans are still registered as missing.

Friends and relatives of victims placed candles and read out the victims' names. President Horst Koehler and Juergen Ruettgers, the premier of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, placed wreaths honouring the dead.

"We present to you the sadness and emptiness of the people who are missing their loved ones ever since the seaquake five years ago," Petra Bosse-Huber of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland said in front of the congregation.

A condolence book was filled with heart-wrenching messages.

"Dear Timo, in our hearts you live on," wrote the parents of one 11-year-old victim.

"Thailand remains my beloved country, as my husband is there forever," read another message.

The altar of the Johannes Church was covered in white petals, and a blue cloth was draped over the altar steps to symbolize the deadly wave.

As one woman placed her remembrance candle, she spoke of her brother who was carried off by the water as he stood in the hotel reception, at the end of his vacation. Days later, his holiday postcards arrived home.