In the Polynesian island nation of Tonga, which was recently hit by a powerful volcano eruption and a subsequent tsunami, the first planes with humanitarian aid have arrived, the British public broadcaster BBC reports.
«After the eruption, all of Tonga just turned grey,» Tongan reporter Marian Kupu said to the BBC from the capital Nuku’alofa. «We’re talking about dogs and cars, and buildings – they were all covered in ashes.» Kupu said the thickness of the ashfall made clearing of the main Tongan airports runway «difficult», and posed a possible health threat to those engaged with the task, who were «mainly young boys».
Read also: Eruption of Oceania volcano claims lives over 10,000 km away
The Saturday, January 16, natural disasters in Tonga have resulted in the death of least three people have and communications have been crippled, and Tonga has only just begun to re-establish global contact after five days cut off from the outside world.
On Thursday, January 20, New Zealand’s Defence Force stated that its transport plane landed touched down in Tonga. It was loaded with water containers, temporary shelter kits, electricity generators, hygiene and family kits and communications equipment. Next came a military plane from Australia with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies, BBC reports.
Tonga receives first humanitarian aid to recover from volcano eruption and tsunami
