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Indonesians honor victims of deadly quake

Thousands of survivors and relatives of the more than 5,700 people killed in last year's earthquake in central Indonesia held pre-dawn prayers yesterday to honor the victims.

Some 5,000 people prayed and recited verses from the Koran in an open field in Bantul district outside the ancient city of Jogjakarta to mark the moment when the 6.3-magnitude quake rattled the country's main island of Java.

Mourners held a minute of silence just before 6am to mark the exact moment that the quake struck. Dancers and actors later reenacted the tragedy.

In nearby villages, the kentongan, a hollowed piece of wood, was struck -- a traditional signal to residents to gather.

"Do not get trapped in long-held suffering, but rise together to rebuild," said Bantul administrator Idam Samawi, urging mourners to look to the future.

More than 1.6 million people were made homeless and another 50,000 injured in worst-hit Bantul district, south of Jogjakarta and Klaten to the northeast.

The widely-revered governor of Jogjakarta, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, promised he would help the thousands of Indonesians left permanently disabled from the devastating quake after they were hit by debris or trapped in their homes.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said hundreds of them have spinal injuries and need rehabilitation.

The sultan also said that quake victims, who had yet to receive assistance, had not been forgotten, a pledge that sparked long applause from the crowd.

"For the houses of quake victims which were completely destroyed or heavily damaged, they have been completed," he said.

"Efforts are now focused on those with houses in the moderately and lightly damaged category who will also receive assistance," the sultan said.

He said a tighter system of distributing funds would be introduced to stamp out reports of local officials siphoning off money meant for victims.

"Prosecutors or police should take firm action against those, be they village officials or district officials, who intentionally cut themselves a share," he was quoted by the Okezone news portal as saying.

Romo Mulyo and his grandson Wahyu, 12, rode their bicycles 15km in the dark to the field in Bantul in the hope that the memorial service would offer comfort.

"I have been here with my grandson since about three this morning," said Mulyo, 57, who lost his wife, a daughter and two sons in the disaster.

"We have no money since no one [in the family] has been able to get a job after the quake," he said.

Smaller ceremonies were also held throughout the region.
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