Nearly 3,500 people held mass prayers for tsunami victims in Aceh on Sunday, a day ahead of the first anniversary of the disaster that left over 169,000 Acehnese dead or missing and half a million homeless.

The mass prayers lasted for nearly two hours.

Earlier on Saturday, they paid a devotional visit to the mass graves of tsunami victims in Lamgarut village, some 10 km from provincial capital city Banda Aceh.

A total of 46,718 unidentified bodies were buried in the mass cemetery.

Hundreds of local and foreign journalists have gathered here in recent days to attend Monday's memorial ceremony to be attended by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Source: Xinhua