The aid planes sent from New Zealand to Tonga cannot land due to the ash that has covered the runway of the main airport after the eruption of the volcano which caused a tsunami and cut all connections. The BBC reports it. About 200 people tried yesterday to clear the track as best they could but only 100 meters had been cleared. The New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta explained that a C-130 loaded with humanitarian aid, especially water which at this moment is the main emergency but also generators and hygiene kits, is ready to take off for Tonga but the ash at this moment makes impossible the operation. As for military ships with supplies, it will take at least three days before they manage to reach the archipelago.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed victims so far has risen to two.
One is 50-year-old Briton Angela Glover, submerged by the tsunami while trying to rescue the stray dogs she cared for.
