The first planes carrying humanitarian aid took off for the Tonga Islands, five days after the disaster caused by the volcanic eruption and the tsunami it caused, Australian and New Zealand officials said.
In a few hours, two aircraft with humanitarian aid are expected at the international airport of the Pacific island country, after the main landing runway was cleared of volcanic ash. A C17 Globemaster of the Australian Air Force departed from Amberley Air Force Base at 07:00 (local time; yesterday Wednesday at 23:00 Greek time), said an official of the Australian Ministry of Defense. The New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules is also already in the air.
As the airport is now considered operational, the two countries are expected to increase the number of flights with the help of the next hours and days. The Australian Government will also send telecommunications equipment to establish contact between the main island of Tonga and more remote areas.
The Australian Navy HMAS Adelaide helicopter landing craft is expected to set sail from Brisbane tomorrow, Friday, with water purification equipment and more humanitarian aid.
As many as 84,000 people, or more than 80 percent of the Tonga’s population, were affected by the volcanic eruption and tsunami, the United Nations said on Wednesday. In one of the islands, Mango, “all the houses have been destroyed”, in another, Fonoifua, only “two houses” remain standing, while “great damage has been reported to Nomuka”, the spokesman summed up from New York of the United Nations, Stefan Duzarik.
Officially, there are reports of three dead, but there are also “injured”, the spokesman said, without giving a number.
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