Difficulty reaching the airport complicates the arrival of emergency aid

The race against time continues in the Tonga Islands. sAfter the mighty four days Volcanic eruption, rescuers must Thoroughly clean up the ash covering the country’s main airstrip to allow the arrival of planes carrying emergency aid. Huge smoke mushroom 30 km high scattering ash, gas and acid rain Across the region, before it was followed by a tsunami with waves up to 15 meters high.

They overran the capital Nuku’alofa, whose inhabitants fled to the heights, leaving behind flooded houses, while rocks and ash fell from the sky. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), citing the Tonga Red Cross, said more than 100,000 people, equivalent to the population of Tonga, were affected by the ashfall and tsunami.

Australia and New Zealand have C-130 military aircraft ready to take off once the ash is over. “We thought the runway would be operational yesterday, but it hasn’t been completely cleaned yet because ash is still falling”, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which determines that“About 100 or 200 meters are cleaned a day.” Australian SBS website They collected the few pictures that came from Tonga: they immediately gave an idea of ​​the extent of the damage.