Today marks 21 years since the tsunami disaster that struck Sri Lanka and other regional countries in 2004. This tsunami was triggered by a powerful earthquake off the coast of North Sumatra, Indonesia, on December 26.
More than 35,000 people in the country died, another 5,000 went missing, and a lot of property was destroyed.
Since 2005, National Safety Day has been observed every year on December 26th to commemorate the victims of the tsunami disaster. This year, the National Safety Day will be observed at the Paraliya Tsunami Memorial this morning.
The Disaster Management Center, commenting on the matter, says that this year, National Safety Day will commemorate the victims of the tsunami disaster as well as other disasters.
The Disaster Management Center also requests the public to observe a two-minute silence from 9.25 am to 9.27 am today in memory of those who died in disasters.
Meanwhile, the Railway Department has taken steps to run a train from Maradana Railway Station to Matara at 6.30 am today to commemorate the train accident that was caught in the tsunami water body in the Paraliya area.