Sydney, Dec. 19, (dpa/GNA) – Four people have now been confirmed killed in Fiji during Cyclone Yasa, which passed over the country as a category five cyclone and is one of the strongest to ever hit the Pacific, the local disaster authority reported Saturday.
Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office director Vasiti Soko told reporters in Suva Saturday the bodies had been found of a man aged 50 and a 70 year old man killed by debris whipped by 345 kilometre-per-hour winds.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said earlier that a three month old baby and a 45 year old farmer were killed during Cyclone Yasa as it crossed the Pacific Ocean nation Thursday night and Friday morning.
Thousands of people have been left homeless after the cyclone, along with crops destroyed.
Australia and New Zealand have pledged aid and will fly in emergency tents and supplies. An Australian Air Force plane is to conduct aerial surveillance of Fiji’s remote islands to determine the extent of the damage, foreign minister Marise Payne said Saturday.
GNA