In Thailand, people gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating wave in the country. The tsunami claimed the lives of over 8,000 people in Thailand. Many remain missing and nearly 400 bodies are unclaimed to this day.

Tearful mourners across Asia have commemorated the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean.

Survivors and relatives of victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami held memorials in Thailand to mark the disaster’s 20th anniversary today. Families laid flowers and lit candles in Phuket and Phang Nga provinces on the east coast of the country,

Volunteers today cleaned the graves of Boxing Day Tsunami victims on the 20th anniversary of disaster. Footage shows survivors and the relatives of victims at the cemetery dedicated to the tragedy in Phang Nga province in southern Thailand.

Today marks the 20th anniversary since the devastating Boxing Day when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra killing more than 220,000 people including 26 Australians.