Grief-stricken Samoans poured into churches on Sunday to mourn the victims of the devastating tsunami that killed more than 170 people in their nation and surrounding Pacific islands.
About 600 people packed into the Congregational Christian Church in Lalomanu, one of the worst-hit villages on the south coast of the most heavily populated island of Upolu.
Lalomanu village chief Tavaga Failauga Gase said that 46 people — including 25 children — from his village had been killed when the tsunami swept ashore last Tuesday following an 8.0 magnitude quake.
“This is the first time so many people are filling this building,” Tavaga said. “We are all here together to witness what’s happened in our place for the first time in our history and the first time in our generation.”
Tavaga said the emotion-charged service marked the first time since the tsunami the community had been able to come together to express its grief.
“This is a time to thank God not only for those who are lost, but the rest who are still alive,” he said.
Among the congregation were members of the Taufua family, who lost 13 relatives in the disaster.
The emotional services were repeated by devout Christians throughout Samoa and Pacific island neighbors American Samoa and Tonga, which shared the destruction brought by the tsunami.
The earthquake and resulting tsunami left 135 dead and eight missing in Samoa, 32 dead in American Samoa and nine dead in Tonga. Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi attended a televised national memorial mass for survivors and victims of the tsunami in the capital, Apia.
“We feel the grief and sorrow, we feel the sadness in our hearts,” Reverend Oka Fauolo told the mass.
“We do what we can, those of us who belong to people who have passed away. It is God alone that heals the troubled hearts of those who will never forget this time,” he said.
In American Samoa, most relief work stopped on Sunday, except for feeding and comforting about 3,900 people in temporary shelters, Homeland Security spokeswoman Betty Ahsoon said.
New Zealand officials said yesterday the number of its citizens confirmed killed in Samoa had risen by two to seven and in Canberra, officials said the number of Australians confirmed dead was five. New Zealanders and Australians were among foreigners holidaying at popular beach resorts on the south coast of Upolu, which bore the brunt of the destruction.
Australia has sent 88 medical and search personnel to Samoa and a New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757 landed in Samoa Saturday carrying police dog search teams and medical experts.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key saw the devastation in Samoa for himself on Friday and said restoring water and sanitation were priorities.
“The early indications I have are that the total rebuild could be more expensive than first thought, maybe in the order of 200 million New Zealand dollars [US$143 million],” Key told Radio New Zealand.
Samoan government spokeswoman Vaosa Epa said planning was going ahead for a mass funeral and burial for up to 100 of the victims on Thursday in Apia.
The Samoan Red Cross said some village groups fled as many as 3km to 4km inland following the tsunami.
“I heard of an assessment team that asked 25 different settlements whether people were planning to head back to the coast and 24 said emphatically ‘no way,’ and the other one said they would think about it after the New Year,” spokeswoman Rosemarie North said.
In Tonga, where the government said nearly 300 families were left homeless by the tsunami on the three northern Niua islands, an Australian aircraft arrived on Sunday with relief supplies and more were due to arrive yesterday.
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