The first planes carrying emergency aid have taken off for the Tonga Islands, five days after a devastating eruption and tsunami, officials in Australia and New Zealand have said.
Read alsoTonga: 80% of the population affected by the eruption of the volcano and the tsunami, according to the UN
Two military transport planes are due to land in the coming hours at Tonga airport, the main runway of which was cleared of the ash that covered it on Wednesday.
A
"C17 Globemaster" aircraft left Amberley Air Base around 7:00 a.m.
Thursday, January 20 (8:00 p.m. GMT Wednesday), an Australian defense official told AFP.
