Memorial service for tsunami victims
Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen will be attending a memorial service in St Paul’s cathedral for the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will deliver the sermon, which will also be attended a host of survivors and victims’ relatives and representatives from 11 of the 12 affected countries.
Film director Richard Attenborough, whose daughter and granddaughter were killed in the disaster, is to give a Bible reading during the service.
A two-minute silence will recognise the great losses of those involved, during which time almost 300,000 flower petals will be released from the galleries and dome inside the cathedral.
Specific flowers have been chosen to represent each of the countries affected by the tsunami, with a petal for each person thought to have died in its wake.
More than 1,800 people are expected to attend, and the service will be broadcast live on television from 15:15 BST today.
Yesterday the Disasters Emergency Committee said the 13 member aid agencies responded “exceptionally well to meet the needs of the millions of people affected by the disaster”.
