Relief supplies from New Zealand and Australia will arrive in Tonga, which has ended its complete "disconnection"

Beijing News Express (reporter Hou Wuting) According to Reuters, on January 20, local time, relief materials from Australia and New Zealand will arrive in Tonga in the form of "contactless delivery", and later on January 19, local time, Tonga's telephone connection with the outside world is also partially connected, but it may take a month or more to restore the Internet.

On January 19, local time, after the eruption of the volcano, the capital of Tonga, Nuku'alofa, was covered with volcanic ash. Figure/IC photo

New Zealand Foreign Minister Mahuta said the delivery of supplies would take place in a non-contact form and that the cargo plane was expected to stay on the ground for 90 minutes before returning to New Zealand. For now, Tonga has also agreed to accept two New Zealand vessels carrying relief supplies. The vessels, carrying 250,000 litres of water and other supplies, will arrive in Tonga on January 21.

There are currently no COVID-19 cases in Tonga and the local concern is that aid workers may be carrying the virus.

Journalists in The Tonga capital, Nuku'alofa, told Reuters that the local area of Tonga was cleaning up the ash from the eruption, but they were worried that they would run out of drinking water. "Every home has its own water supply tank, but most of it is full of dust and not safe to drink."

She also pointed out that the current local food supply may last for several weeks, and some villages in western Tonga have been severely affected.

The United Nations has previously said that 80% of Tonga's population (84,000 people) was deeply affected by the disaster. U.N. spokesman Dugarik said, "They (the locals) have lost their homes, their contact details have lapsed, and the (mainly) problem we have learned is water." ”

On 14 and 15 January, a violent eruption of the submarine volcano on the island of Aha Apai in Tongahun triggered a transoceanic tsunami that caused catastrophic damage to Tonga, which has killed 3 people and injured some people, and the number of casualties is likely to increase in the future.

Beijing News reporter Hou Wuting

Edited by Fan Yijing Proofreader Zhao Lin