Indonesia to build tsunami museum in Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia will build a $7.4 million museum in Aceh province in memory of about 170,000 people who died there in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, its architect said on Wednesday.

The museum in the provincial capital Banda Aceh will feature a building that looks like a traditional house elevated on stilts, said Ridwan Kamil, the architect who won a contest to design the museum.

The names of Acehnese who died in the tsunami will be inscribed on a chimney-like atrium, he said.

"The museum will be a symbol of the Acehnese' strength in facing a disaster of such magnitude," Kamil told Reuters, adding that the site will also serve as an escape hill in the event of another tsunami.

The building will feature a recreation of the tsunami's passage and a memorial hall equipped with flat panel computer screens to allow visitors to browse information related to the disaster, he said.

The government has allocated 70 billion rupiah ($7.4 million) for the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

On Dec. 26, 2004, giant waves triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded pulverised villages along Indian Ocean shores, killing or leaving missing about 230,000 people.

Aceh is the Indonesian province worst hit by the tsunami with some 170,000 killed or missing.

($1 = 9,435 rupiah)

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Pathoni in Jakarta)