2:26 PM |
Ta'afuli Andrew Fiu October 3 at 7:41am
A family lost 13 of its members when the tsunami struck on Tuesday.
The popular Lalomanu family in the tourism industry was probably the worst hit.
The Taufua family, who own the popular Taufua Beach Fales, lost 13 people when waves estimated at six metres high battered the coastal part of the village and killed indiscriminately.
Among the family's dead are a 97-year-old man and four children under four years old.
The family began to bury some of their dead yesterday.
"We've found 11 but there are still two missing," a family member told the Samoa Observer.
"We're on our way to bury this one (she said pointing to a body in the back of the truck) because he's starting to smell. The doctors have advised us to bury them as soon as they are found because of the smell."
At the Taufua family home at Lalomanu yesterday afternoon, devastated family members were in tears as they tried to work out how to bury their relatives.
They comforted each other as untitled men started digging graves for what appears to be a mass burial site.
Sepoima Lauoletolo, one of the lucky survivors, said all her family members were too upset to talk.
"I'm speechless, I don't know what to say," she said. "I don't even know how to feel any more. So many people in our family have died. Why?"
In tears, Ms Lauoletolo recalled how the tsunami hit her family.
"After the earthquake, we thought there was not going to be a wave," she said. "But it happened so fast. We couldn't do anything."
Ms Lauoletolo said s
ix of the dead from her family are children.
"That's what hurts the most," she said. "These were helpless children. Everyone was running for their own life."
One who ran for her life and made it is Epifania Ropeti, another Lalomanu woman.
"It was my daughter who saved me," she said of Taiaopo Peniana.
"Right after the earthquake, I wasn't sure whether to run or not. But I decided to get out of the house and head for higher ground. I think I was the first one to run."
Mrs Ropeti, however, was still caught by the massive wave.
"I was swept away and I thought I was going to die," she said. "But my daughter had come looking for me and she held me up and we stayed together clinging on to something. I don't know what that was but it saved our lives."
At Lalomanu yesterday, the clean up began. Good Samaritans from all over Samoa turned up in busloads to help the village clear the debris.
Elsewhere, police and helpers continued to search for more bodies.
Three bodies were found in the morning but rescuers suspect more are still buried under the sand and rubble.
"It's been two days now and our hopes of finding anyone else alive are pretty grim," a police officer said. He could not be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He, however, said police officers have been working all hours to help out.
"I'd say the bulk of the police force are here," he said. "Our immediate concern is to find people who are missing. At this stage, we still don't know how many are missing so we're just looking."
The popular Lalomanu family in the tourism industry was probably the worst hit.
The Taufua family, who own the popular Taufua Beach Fales, lost 13 people when waves estimated at six metres high battered the coastal part of the village and killed indiscriminately.
Among the family's dead are a 97-year-old man and four children under four years old.
The family began to bury some of their dead yesterday.
"We've found 11 but there are still two missing," a family member told the Samoa Observer.
"We're on our way to bury this one (she said pointing to a body in the back of the truck) because he's starting to smell. The doctors have advised us to bury them as soon as they are found because of the smell."
At the Taufua family home at Lalomanu yesterday afternoon, devastated family members were in tears as they tried to work out how to bury their relatives.
They comforted each other as untitled men started digging graves for what appears to be a mass burial site.
Sepoima Lauoletolo, one of the lucky survivors, said all her family members were too upset to talk.
"I'm speechless, I don't know what to say," she said. "I don't even know how to feel any more. So many people in our family have died. Why?"
In tears, Ms Lauoletolo recalled how the tsunami hit her family.
"After the earthquake, we thought there was not going to be a wave," she said. "But it happened so fast. We couldn't do anything."
Ms Lauoletolo said s
ix of the dead from her family are children.
"That's what hurts the most," she said. "These were helpless children. Everyone was running for their own life."
One who ran for her life and made it is Epifania Ropeti, another Lalomanu woman.
"It was my daughter who saved me," she said of Taiaopo Peniana.
"Right after the earthquake, I wasn't sure whether to run or not. But I decided to get out of the house and head for higher ground. I think I was the first one to run."
Mrs Ropeti, however, was still caught by the massive wave.
"I was swept away and I thought I was going to die," she said. "But my daughter had come looking for me and she held me up and we stayed together clinging on to something. I don't know what that was but it saved our lives."
At Lalomanu yesterday, the clean up began. Good Samaritans from all over Samoa turned up in busloads to help the village clear the debris.
Elsewhere, police and helpers continued to search for more bodies.
Three bodies were found in the morning but rescuers suspect more are still buried under the sand and rubble.
"It's been two days now and our hopes of finding anyone else alive are pretty grim," a police officer said. He could not be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He, however, said police officers have been working all hours to help out.
"I'd say the bulk of the police force are here," he said. "Our immediate concern is to find people who are missing. At this stage, we still don't know how many are missing so we're just looking."
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