Europe stands still for tsunami victims

Europeans honoured the 146 000 victims of the Asian tsunami disaster on Wednesday, observing a European Union call for three minutes’ silence at noon.

European Union officials and lawmakers from the European Parliament joined together outside EU headquarters in Brussels to observe the call.

Flags were lowered to half-mast, stock exchanges stopped trading and public transport came to a temporary standstill in many capitals across the 25-nation bloc.

Stores in the midst of January sales asked clients to take a pause from their shopping.

The disaster has claimed hundreds of European lives, and hundreds more remain missing.

TV and radio networks in Britain, Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands interrupted programme schedules to include the three-minute tribute. Swiss public television planned a special telethon to raise more aid.

Nordic countries

Flags were flying at half-mast across Sweden on Wednesday as public transport ground to halt around Nordic countries and streets came to a standstill to remember those who died in the tsunamis.

In Sweden, where 52 people are confirmed dead and almost 2 000 are still missing following the December 26 catastrophe, people paid tribute by observing a three-minute silence called for by the European Union.

In central Stockholm, public transport came to a halt and shoppers on the normally bustling street Kungsgatan stood still under clear blue skies, as Prime Minister Goeran Persson led a brief ceremony at the government offices attended by the members of his Cabinet.

Employees at the Apollo charter group in Stockholm, which is still unable to locate a number of its holidaymakers in Thailand, disconnected their phones and lined up at midday to respect the silence.

Department stores in the capital and ski resorts in the north also came to a standstill.

In Finland, a three-minute silence was observed in schools across the country, while public transportation came to a halt and many pedestrians stood still at noon local time to commemorate the victims of the tsunami disaster.

In addition, the Helsinki Stock Exchange observed the silence by interrupting trading during the period. Fifteen Finns have been confirmed dead and 183 are listed as missing.

Earlier, the Nordic country’s government “strongly recommended” that Finns observed the EU-wide silence for the victims of the devastating disaster in Asia.

Denmark, which lost seven nationals and still has 166 people missing, did not observe the silence because a two-minute silence was held on Sunday, although the Danish Stock Exchange stopped work and a bridge linking Copenhagen to southern Sweden was also closed.

Norway, which is not a member of the EU, did observe the three-minute silence. At Oslo’s central station, where traffic was halted, many passengers stood silent. Sixteen Norwegians died and 88 are still missing.

The Netherlands

Tens of thousands of Dutch bowed their heads in silence on Wednesday in train stations, airports, supermarkets and on the streets in tribute to the 146 000 people killed in the Asian tsunami disaster.

At Amsterdam’s international Schiphol airport, the luggage conveyor belts stopped running for three minutes, while customs officials stopped checking travellers’ passports.

In the city’s famous Dam square, close to 200 people stood in silence as radio and TV stations interrupted normal programming, and supermarkets stopped cash tills ringing.

In The Hague, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende paid tribute to the victims in Parliament, surrounded by ministers and MPs.

“We will remain silent for three minutes in face of the suffering of relatives who have lost their loved ones … This suffering is too vast to comprehend completely, but at least try to imagine the suffering of a mother who has lost her child,” he said.

“We are united in our compassion for the relatives of the victims wherever they are in the world. This catastrophe has touched all of us.”

At least six Dutch have been confirmed as dead after the December 26 tragedy.

Ireland

Ireland’s President Mary McAleese led the country in observing the three-minute silence on Wednesday, a government spokesperson said.

Ambassadors and consular representatives were among those who joined McAleese in observing the silence on the steps of her official residence on the outskirts of Dublin.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and his government ministers, who were holding regular Cabinet discussions, also broke off their meeting in Dublin to mark the moment of silence.

Ahern had asked that the Irish flag be flown at half-mast on all public buildings.

RTE national radio went silent for three minutes and the national television channel carried a live broadcast of the ceremonies.

So far, there has been one confirmed Irish fatality from the tsunami.

The body of Dubliner Eilis Finnegan (27), who had been holidaying with her boyfriend on the Thai island of Phi Phi, was identified on Tuesday.

According to the Irish Foreign Ministry, there are three other “top priority” cases of Irish people still unaccounted for. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa-AP

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