Tonga tsunami: diplomat says entire village destroyed, many buildings missing after volcanic eruption

Curtis Tu’ihalangingie said images taken by surveillance flights showed ‘alarming’ scenes of a village ruined on Mango island, raising fears of more deaths

A thick layer of ash from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano blanketed Tonga’s main airport, delaying aid efforts

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Ash-covered homes and vegetation in Tonga’s Nomuka after the island nation was hit by a tsunami triggered by an undersea volcanic eruption on Saturday. Photo: New Zealand Defence Force/Reuters

Published: 9:39am, 18 Jan 2022Updated: 4:19pm, 18 Jan 2022

Tonga’s small outer islands suffered extensive damage from a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, with an entire village destroyed and many buildings missing, a Tongan diplomat said on Tuesday, raising fears of more deaths and injuries.

“People panic, people run and get injuries. Possibly there will be more deaths and we just pray that is not the case,” Tonga’s deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, said.

Tu’ihalangingie said images taken by New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) reconnaissance flights showed “alarming” scenes of a village destroyed on Mango island and buildings missing on nearby Atata island.

Tonga police told the New Zealand High Commission that the confirmed death toll stood at two but with communications in the South Pacific island nation cut, the true extent of casualties was not clear.

Australia’s Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja said Tongan officials were hoping to evacuate people from the isolated, low-lying Ha’apai islands group and other outer islands where conditions were “very tough, we understand, with many houses being destroyed in the tsunami”.

The United Nations had earlier reported a distress signal was detected in Ha’apai, where Mango is located. The Tongan navy reported the area was hit by waves estimated to be 5-10 metres high, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).