Tonga volcano eruption: Damage assessment begun – Press Conference | United Nations

United Nations published this video item, entitled “Tonga volcano eruption: Damage assessment begun – Press Conference | United Nations” – below is their description.

Acting Resident Coordinator Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, Jonathan Veitch, speaking on the situation in Tonga following devastating volcanic eruption.

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Islands covered in ash, dozens of homes destroyed

According to a Tongan Government press release on Tuesday, the three fatalities are a British national, and two Tongan nationals.

The UN World Health Organization, WHO, has reported that many people are still missing, whilst around 90 people headed to safety in evacuation centres on the island of Eua, and many others fled to the homes of friends and family.

On the main island of Tongatapu, around 100 houses have been damaged, and 50 completely destroyed, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, which updated journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.

The agency pointed out that it is still in the process of collecting information about the scale of destruction, and it has not been possible to contact any of the islands of the Ha’apai et Vava’u chains.

The Mango and Fonoi islands, which form part of the Ha’apai chain, are a particular cause for concern, said OCHA Spokeperson Jens Laerke, with surveillance flights showing widespread damage to buildings, and images from UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) show that, on the small island of Nomuka, one of the closest to the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano, 41 of 104 visible structures have been damaged, and almost all are covered by ash, although the Centre notes that this assessment remains to be verified by teams on the ground.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, told journalists on Tuesday that Tongatapu is covered by around two centimetres of volcanic dust and ash, raising concerns of air, water and food pollution.

There is some positive news, he added: all health facilities on the main island are fully operational, and clean-up operations have already begun.

Read More: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1109972

Image Credit: NOAA – A satellite image shows the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga.

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