Aid flights arrive in Tonga after volcanic eruption

January 21, 2022 Amber Coakley US 0

In this photo provided by the Australian Defence Force, pilots, Wing Commander Dean Bolton, left, and Flight Lieutenant Alice McCabe preparer to land a C-17A Globemaster III loaded with aid supplies at Tonga’s Fuaʻamotu International Airport, near Nukuʻalofa, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, after a volcano eruption. (LACW Emma Schwenke/Australia Defence Force via AP)

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UPDATED 8:58 AM PT – Friday, January 21, 2022

The first flights carrying aid to Tonga have finally arrived. Planes from New Zealand and Australia arrived on Thursday carrying fresh water and other supplies.

The South Pacific island nation was hit by tsunami, which was triggered by an underwater volcanic eruption last week. The deliveries came after the nation’s main airport runway was cleared of ash.

“It has taken some days now for the airfield to be cleared sufficiently for us to land there, but there’s still remnants of volcanic ash on the runway and in the area of the flight line area which does complicate our capacity to the airfield, ” explained Dean Bolton, Squadron Wing Commander for the Royal Australian Air Force. “However, we successfully landed and delivered the aid as tasked.”

WATCH🎬 No. 40 Squadron’s first @NZAirForce Hercules flight to #Tonga.

Aid supplies were transported successfully, and the aircrew returned home to Aotearoa New Zealand last night.

For all our updates ➡️ https://t.co/0rcqlCN5VU #Force4NZ #NZAirForce pic.twitter.com/ZJ0BJJpFBI

— NZ Defence Force (@NZDefenceForce) January 20, 2022

Meanwhile, reports say more than 80 percent of Tonga’s population have been affected by the eruption. According to some experts, Tonga’s future “looks grim” due to the unforeseen health impacts from the volcanic eruption that could impact its population for years to come.

In this photo provided by the Australian Defence Force, personnel unload emergency aid supplies at Tonga’s Fuaʻamotu International Airport, near Nukuʻalofa, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, after a volcano eruption. U.N. humanitarian officials report that about 84,000 people — more than 80% of Tonga’s population — have been impacted by the volcano’s eruption. (LACW Emma Schwenke/Australia Defence Force via AP)