19 Jan 2022

Tonga eruption: three dead, evacuations underway

From Morning Report, 8:09 am on 19 January 2022

Evacuations are underway in Tonga's hardest hit areas, with every home destroyed on Mango island and extensive damage elsewhere.

Aerial photos are beginning to show the extent of the devastation: islands covered in thick gray ash, and "catastrophic" damage.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta told Morning Report the images were deeply concerning, but they provide the Tongan government the information it needs to manage the disaster.

RNZ Pacific manager Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor talks to Max Towle.