Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Tonga's government says tsunami is 'unprecedented disaster' as it confirms three fatalities

New Zealand’s military is sending much-needed drinking water and other supplies, but said ash on the runway will delay the flight by at least a day.

LAST UPDATE | 18 Jan 2022

2.64796469 PA Images PA Images

TONGA’S GOVERNMENT SAYS the country has been hit by an “unprecedented disaster”, in its first statement since a volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami.

The government today confirmed that at least three people died (two locals and a British national) due to the catastrophe.

It said some of its smaller outlying islands were particularly badly affected, with all the houses destroyed on one and just two left on another. Aid efforts have been hampered by ash falling from the volcano.

The United Nations (UN) said it would try to maintain Tonga’s Covid-free status in the relief effort.

Any humanitarian efforts to help the remote kingdom will follow the country’s strict protocols for keeping out the coronavirus pandemic, UN agencies told reporters in Geneva.

“Tonga is a zero-Covid country,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“They have very strict protocols for that. One of the first rules of humanitarian action is ‘do no harm’,” he said.

“So we want to make absolutely sure that all necessary protocols for entry into the country will be followed.”

Tonga only recently reported its first and only coronavirus case.

Sixty percent of the country’s population of over 100,000 people are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to figures from the World Health Organization.

The WHO said it was for the Tongan authorities to balance their priorities between maintaining their Covid regulations and getting in urgently-needed support.

“It’s up to the government to give out the guidance and the rules on how to enter the country, what protocols have to be in place,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

“But yes, it certainly will be a priority to see that contamination can be avoided as much as possible.”

Tonga has been virtually cut off from the rest of the world since Saturday’s volcanic blast – one of the largest recorded in decades, leaving swathes of the Polynesian archipelago smothered in grey ash and dust or damaged by the tsunami.

Aid delayed by ash

details-of-a-composite-reconnaissance-photo-taken-of-haaipai-airport-lifuka-island-tonga-taken-on-january-18-2022-by-a-royal-australian-air-force-p-8a-poseidon-during-a-reconnaissance-flight-to Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Thick ash on an airport runway is delaying aid deliveries to the Pacific island nation of Tonga, where significant damage was being reported days after a huge undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami.

New Zealand’s military is sending much-needed drinking water and other supplies, but said the ash on the runway will delay the flight by at least a day.

A towering ash cloud since Saturday’s eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand is also sending two navy ships to Tonga that will leave today and pledged an initial 1 million New Zealand dollars (€598,000) towards recovery efforts.

Communications with Tonga have been extremely limited, but New Zealand and Australia sent military surveillance flights to assess the damage yesterday.

UN humanitarian officials and Tonga’s government “report significant infrastructural damage around Tongatapu,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“There has been no contact from the Ha’apai Group of islands, and we are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands — Mango and Fonoi — following surveillance flights confirming substantial property damage.”

New Zealand’s High Commission in Tonga also reported “significant damage” along the western coast of the main island of Tongatapu, including to resorts and along the waterfront area.

Satellite images captured the spectacular eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific.

january-17-2022-hunga-haapai-tonga-a-distress-signal-has-been-detected-in-an-isolated-low-lying-group-of-islands-in-the-tonga-archipelago-following-saturdays-massive-volcanic-eruption-and-tsuna The uninhabited volcanic island of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai all but disappeared following the massive volcanic eruption. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Tsunami waves of about 80 centimeters (2.7 feet) crashed into Tonga’s shoreline, and crossed the Pacific, causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California. The eruption set off a sonic boom that could be heard as far away as Alaska.

Two people drowned in Peru, which also reported an oil spill after waves moved a ship that was transferring oil at a refinery.

New Zealand’s Acting High Commissioner for Tonga, Peter Lund, said there were unconfirmed reports of up to three fatalities on Tonga so far.

One death has been confirmed by family: British woman Angela Glover, 50, who was swept away by a wave.

Nick Eleini said his sister’s body had been found and that her husband survived.

“I understand that this terrible accident came about as they tried to rescue their dogs,” Eleini told Sky News. He said it had been his sister’s “life dream” to live in the South Pacific and “she loved her life there”.

The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano, about 64 kilometres (40 miles) north of Nuku’alofa, was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions. In late 2014 and early 2015, eruptions created a small new island and disrupted air travel to the Pacific archipelago.

Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island after a new vent began erupting in late December. Satellite images showed how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga.

The UN World Food Program is exploring how to bring in relief supplies and more staff and has received a request to restore communication lines in Tonga, Mr Dujarric said.

Covid and communication complications

One complicating factor is that Tonga has managed to avoid outbreaks of Covid-19. New Zealand said its military staff were vaccinated and willing to follow Tonga’s protocols.

New Zealand’s military said it hoped the airfield in Tonga would be opened on either tomorrow or Thursday. The military said it had considered an airdrop but that was “not the preference of the Tongan authorities”.

Communications with the island nation is limited because the single underwater fibre-optic cable that connects Tonga to the rest of the world was likely severed in the eruption. The company that owns the cable said repairs could take weeks.

Samiuela Fonua, who chairs the board at Tonga Cable Ltd, said the cable appeared to have been severed about 10 to 15 minutes after the eruption.

A second undersea cable that connects the islands within Tonga also appeared to have been severed, Fonua said.

However, a local phone network was working, allowing Tongans to call each other. But he said the lingering ash cloud was continuing to make even satellite phone calls abroad difficult.

With reporting by © AFP 2022

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

View 4 comments
Close
4 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andrew Martin
    Favourite Andrew Martin
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:01 AM

    “Alright, good night” would be fairly standard crew speak when being handed off from one ATC frequency to another. Yet again this is another fine example of media hype suggesting routine ATC/flight deck crew procedure to be something more sinister…

    113
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Byrne
    Favourite Dave Byrne
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 10:02 AM

    Spot on there Andrew regarding the media hype,A good few years ago there was a charter airline that had some tech issues inflight.
    They made an uneventful landing yet the red top brigade had published a story that the crew could not speak English,My mother asked me about this and if it was true as I worked in aviation,I said no as English is the official language in aviation no matter what country you flly to.

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Winston Teardrops
    Favourite Winston Teardrops
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 12:15 PM

    Sure don’t you know – we have ‘great white’ sharks washing up on Irish shores now. Circulation and site hits will not be halted by mere truth or rationality.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cian Maher
    Favourite Cian Maher
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 8:44 AM

    It’s an aeroplane not a set of car keys… How can it be lost?

    85
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Genius
    Favourite Genius
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 7:47 AM

    Nothing unusual about that when changing controllers,The hypoxia theory may hold the answers but there would have been major alerts in the cockpit.

    78
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bill
    Favourite Bill
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 7:47 AM

    Greek charter airline Helios B737 crew suffered oxygen starvation and both rendered unconscious due to incorrect selection on cockpit overhead panel aircraft aircraft continued flight until it ran out of fuel and struck hill is it possible something similar occurred here,

    75
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Vocal Outrage
    Favourite Vocal Outrage
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 11:16 AM

    The theory is not as the aircraft would have impacted at one spot, it would have also been visible decanting, if it impacted at one spot there would be a debris field. The absence of such indicates a high altitude catastrophic breakup, something not caused by oxygen starvation

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ipsum oleum
    Favourite ipsum oleum
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 10:51 AM

    I heard that it landed At Knock following rumours of a 6th Garth Brooks concert to beheld in Swinford.

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Linehan
    Favourite Patrick Linehan
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 8:04 AM

    In 2003 a Boeing727 was ‘stolen’ on the tarmac in Angola. It has never been seen since. Intelligence experts believe it was taken to Mogadishu where it was going to be loaded with high explosive and used as a flying bomb. Rumors persist that a countries special forces located and destroyed the aircraft.
    Intelligence people are again looking at this scenario as a possible reason for the disappearance of the Malaysian aircraft.
    Whatever happened, its currently a mystery and tragedy for the families.

    44
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute James St John Smith
    Favourite James St John Smith
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 8:45 AM

    There there. These men with the medication are going to look after you.

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Linehan
    Favourite Patrick Linehan
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:01 AM

    Try googling it dipshit.

    75
    See 9 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Declan Noonan
    Favourite Declan Noonan
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:15 AM

    Patrick, are you suggesting that someone stole this plane from the sky? Please elaborate?

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andrew Martin
    Favourite Andrew Martin
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:20 AM

    May I elaborate on behalf of Patrick? The key word in Patrick’s post is ‘tarmac’. If you ever find tarmac in the sky seek medical attention immediately…

    110
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Linehan
    Favourite Patrick Linehan
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:56 AM

    No emergency broadcast, no wreckage, no eyewitness of explosions or a plane falling from the sky. No wreckage. All electronic signals suddenly ceasing, radar not picking up anything. From my limited knowledge the only way this could happen is for the transponder to be manually turned off in the cockpit, also for all the other signals to disappear, again they would have to be turned off or jammed. As for radar, it is possible to fly below or above it. Unless the aircraft or debris is located soon, the viable explanation would be hijacking, there’s plenty of small islands in the Indian ocean, I believe one of the 777′s selling points is its ability to take off & land on a short runway. if hijacking is the case then you have to wonder what is the motivation, do they want the passengers for profit, or do they want the aircraft? unless you want to go with the alien theory.

    56
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Declan Noonan
    Favourite Declan Noonan
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 10:15 AM

    Patrick, “from my limited knowledge” that explains it for me.
    So somewhere out there is a small island with a small runway and “they” land this plane on it without anyone seeing it land because on this island there are no people even though someone built a runway on it????
    What are you smoking?

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Linehan
    Favourite Patrick Linehan
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 10:25 AM

    So what’s your explanation Declan?

    30
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ancient History
    Favourite Ancient History
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 10:37 AM

    Pat
    Was listening to an aviation expert on the George Hook show. He was as mystified as anyone. He said the black box on those aircraft will release from the aircraft if it enters the water and begin transmitting. He mentioned that it didn’t happen on the air France flight that disappeared but thought it was unlikely the same malfunction could happen again.

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Matteen Beag
    Favourite Matteen Beag
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 2:39 PM

    http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-09-26/html/2013-23456.htm

    My best guess, is the above Airworthiness Directive relating to the trip 7.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Loop De Loop
    Favourite Loop De Loop
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 2:41 PM

    Both black boxes will transmit a signal when immersed in water, but you still need to be pretty close to them to pick it up, especially if the boxes are in deep water.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mary Kavanagh
    Favourite Mary Kavanagh
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 3:42 PM

    That’s very interesting about cockpit crew being able to switch off the transponder, Pat. Does that mean, then, that the aircraft is undetectable if they also maintain radio silence? Maybe in the case of the black box lightning does strike twice. It’s horrible for the families and friends of those on board.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Byrne
    Favourite Dave Byrne
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:12 AM

    It is normal to ssy good night/good bye while changing ATC frequency,As for the aircraft loosing cabin pressure the flight crew would have put on their face mask, And decend to 10000 feet as per normal SOP also the flight crews oxygen supply is separate from the passengers air supply.
    With ACARS equipped on a aircraft it means that the airlines control center ops/maintenance people etc,Can contact the aircraft via a computer and the message prints off like a till receipt on the center control panel.

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Thomas
    Favourite John Thomas
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 1:30 PM

    Am I the only one thinking aliens here? Surprised it hasn’t even been suggested in jest.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
    Favourite TIPM (Mick Rooney)
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 2:20 PM

    Yes, you are the only one!

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sean
    Favourite Sean
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:20 AM
    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
    Favourite TIPM (Mick Rooney)
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 11:26 AM

    Be interesting to know if there is any maintanance record of a doubler plate being fitted in the area around the SATCOM box. It had a last service check in February. The Boeing alert from November was raised by a journalist this morning at the press conference and Malaysia Aviation simply replied that the airline got the alert from Boeing and maintainance procedures were followed. I’d be pretty sure NTSB is scouring those records now. Would explain a little – potential structural rupture leading to slow decompression – and the loss of comms and in-the-air transponder signal loss. But it still suggests you should have a signal from the black boxes once down in the water.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Genius
    Favourite Genius
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 7:11 PM
    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Carty
    Favourite Ian Carty
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:39 AM

    Almost a week now and still no sign. They can find stars billions of miles away with technology and we have GPS and flight apps and they cant find it. Disgrace.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Vocal Outrage
    Favourite Vocal Outrage
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 11:25 AM

    Hardly a valid comparison between celestial objects that have been visible for millennia or are detectable by their extremely large size and gravitational effect and a Boeing 777. If they start using a celestial telescope to search for the aircraft they are in big trouble

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute emily denner
    Favourite emily denner
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 9:57 PM

    They can track an iphone. They can track a shark. They can even track keys but they cant track a plane with 239 people on it. The government is keeping alot of information private. Maybe too much. People are commenting here arguments when people are overseas crying at airports waiting for loved ones. Disrespect.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Edward Cullen
    Favourite Edward Cullen
    Report
    Mar 12th 2014, 2:40 PM

    The plane had 7.5 hours of fuel on board when it went missing. What I think happened was that it was hijacked and flown into Russia or some island and the passengers were either shot or told not to say anything. Like a big plane just does not go missing.

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds