Tens of thousands of Dutch bowed their heads in silence Wednesday in train stations, airports, supermarkets and on the streets in tribute to the 146,000 people killed in the Asian tsunami disaster.

At Amsterdam's international Schiphol airport, the luggage conveyor belts stopped running for three minutes, while customs officials stopped checking travellers passports.

In the city's famous Dam square, close to 200 people stood in silence, as radio and television stations interrupted normal programming, and supermarkets stopped cash tills ringing.

In The Hague, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende paid tribute to the victims in parliament surrounded by ministers and MPs.

"We will remain silent for three minutes in face of the suffering of relatives who have lost their loved ones... This suffering is too vast to comprehend completely but at least try to imagine the suffering of a mother who has lost her child," he said.

"We are united in our compassion for the relatives of the victims wherever they are in the world. This catastrophe has touched all of us."

At least six Dutch have been confirmed as dead after the December 26 tragedy when tidal waves swept over 11 Indian Ocean countries following a huge earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.