The first shipment occurs after international satellite communication has been restored in the last few hours.
The first humanitarian aid plane will arrive this Thursday in Tonga, a Polynesian nation that was the scene of a powerful eruption of an underwater volcano and a tsunami over the weekend, after the removal of ash that covered the runway of its capital’s airport. .
The first shipment comes after international satellite communication has been restored in recent hours and the publication of the first images from the ground of the situation in the country, which show debris, cars covered in thick layers of brown ash, and felled trees.
A C-130 Hercules aircraft, which departed this morning from the New Zealand city of Auckland, is carrying water containers, power generators, communication equipment, among other essential products, according to a joint statement from the New Zealand foreign ministers, Nanaia Mahuta; and Defense, Peeni Henare.
The plane, which is scheduled to arrive at 03:00 GMT, will deliver “contactless” aid for a maximum of 90 minutes before returning to New Zealand, Henare explained, referring to compliance with the protocols imposed by covid-19. in Tonga, a country that has recorded only one infection since the start of the pandemic.
The C-130 will be the first to arrive at the airport in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, where local authorities have been working around the clock since Saturday’s disaster to remove the thick layer of ash from the runway.
The New Zealand Government also indicated that one of its ships, which has a helicopter on board, is scheduled to arrive in Tonga today to review the state of the shipping channels and the infrastructure of the archipelago’s main dock, while another Australian ship, which will be the base of operations, gets ready to set sail.
In Tonga, local authorities are working on the evacuation of the islands of Mango and Fonoifua (about 150 people) to other less affected islands, which has also caused severe damage in the west of the main island, Tongatapu.
At the moment the death of three people in Tonga due to the disaster has been recorded, although the damage has not yet been quantified because the territory is made up of 169 islands currently cut off by the rupture of an underwater cable, which is connected to Fiji and which provides telephone and internet connections to the country.
Digicel, the main company in Tonga, reported last night that international satellite communication has been restored, which will alleviate the isolation situation while repairs are carried out on the submarine cable in the next four weeks.
The first ground-based images posted last night on Twitter by the Tongan Consulate show cars covered in thick layers of brown ash, downed trees and debris, and a couple of children playing amongst a landscape of utter destruction.
The force of the tsunami was felt in several areas of the Pacific and caused two deaths in Peru due to the strong waves, as well as the oil spill during a ship unloading off the things of Lima. (I)
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