Queen ‘praying for the people of Tonga’ after tsunami wipes out entire islands
The Queen has sent a message of support to people in Tonga still struggling to contact loved ones cut off by a tsunami.
Emergency workers are still battling to reach some remote islands which are feared to have been devastated by huge waves triggered by a volcanic eruption on Saturday.
The country’s main underwater communications cable was destroyed during the natural disaster, leaving most people without internet or phone connection.
A huge deposit of ash closed down the main airport for several days, meaning aid had to be shipped in by sea, causing delays for desperate people.
In a message to the nation’s monarch Tupou VI, the Queen said she was ‘shocked and saddened’ by the severity of the damage.
She continued: ‘My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tonga, as you work together to recover from the damage caused.
‘It must be incredibly difficult for those who are unable to contact friends and family while communications are disrupted, and I hope that they will soon be restored.’
UN humanitarian officials report that about 84,000 people – more than 80% of Tonga’s population – have been affected by the volcano’s eruption.
The first plane carrying aid supplies was able to touch down today after the runway was cleared.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules landed at Fua’amotu International Airport a full five days after the eruption.
New Zealand and Australia have each sent military transport planes carrying water containers, kits for temporary shelters, generators, hygiene supplies and communications equipment.
At least three people have been killed but it is feared the death toll could rise once the full impact across all 170 islands which make up the kingdom is assessed.
Angela Glover, a 50-year-old British animal charity worker from Brighton, was the first confirmed death resulting from the tragedy.
Aerial images released earlier this week revealed entire islands had been ravaged by violent seas and huge clouds of ash.
Tongan officials fear waves caused by the volcano ‘possibly went through’ the island of Atata ‘from one end to the other’.
No homes remain on Mango island, home to 50 people, following the ‘unprecedented disaster’, the island nation’s government said in their first update.
Mango is 43 miles from an undersea volcano that sent waves across the Pacific in an eruption heard 1,430 miles away in New Zealand last week.
Two buildings were left standing on the nearby small island of Fonoifua, home to 69 people, while there is also extensive damage on Nomuka Island which is home to roughly 500 people.
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