International aid reaches Tonga with clean water, supplies

23/1/2022 19:31

        Aid flights from Australia, Japan and New Zealand carrying food, water, medical supplies and telecommunications equipment landed in Tonga over the weekend, as the Pacific nation grapples with the aftermath of an underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami.
        
        The main airport runway has been cleared of ash spewed when the nearby Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted a week ago. The explosion also set off a Pacific-wide tsunami that smashed boats in New Zealand and caused an oil spill as far as Peru.
        
        "Obviously it's a very, very difficult time for the people of Tonga. The feedback on the ground again I got today is many people displaced," Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja told reporters in Canberra.
        
        Cleanup efforts were going smoothly, with the Tongan government and military officials working together, he said.