Tonga

A spokesperson for ACC told Kaniva News ACC would also cover the costs of everybody who was injured in the crash while they are in New Zealand.

The news came in the aftermath of Thursday night’s memorial service for student Sione Taumalolo, 11, and Talita Moimoi Fifita, 33, who died when their bus went off the road and down an embankment on State Highway Two near Gisborne.

Hundreds of people attended the memorial service at the Methodist church in Grey Lynn.

A public defender for Dean Jay Fletcher filed a motion Thursday saying the government is illegally keeping the currency.

U.S. marshals brought Fletcher to Honolulu last month after he allegedly escaped from a Tonga jail and sailed to American Samoa.

Court documents say he was indicted on a murder charge in the July death of his wife, Patricia Linne Kearney.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Butrick says the government seized the money in accordance with a treaty with Tonga. He says the cash is worth about $10,000.

RNZ reports Operation Vi has resulted in major busts with police seizing thousands of bottles of illegally sold liquor, homebrew, drugs and a firearm.

Acting Commissioner Viliami Unga Fa'aoa said just over 70 percent of the registered crimes were traffic violations.

Mr Fa'aoa said the aim of the operation was to ensure public safety and said police will not tolerate criminal behaviour.

Police are advising members of the public to contact them if they are concerned about suspicious behaviour in their communities.

A fire which broke out at the landfill on Christmas Day is now under control.

Kalisitiane Tukuafu of the Waste Management Authority says the fire was significantly contained on Monday thanks to the tireless efforts of emergency services and WAL.

Mr Tukuafu says they will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that such an incident will not re-occur.

The landfill was part of a $2.7 million pa'anga project, funded by the Australian Government, the Tongan Government and the Asian Development Bank and was handed over nearly two years ago on 13 January 2015.

The men had only their guitars and 'ukuleles which they played and sang songs in the hope of spreading the joy of Christmas and celebrating the New Year.

It is always a privilege to see that despite one’s age, no one is ever too old to celebrate.

Kaniva News reports there were claims the Australian deportee might have been the former Tongan inmate at Australia’s most murderous prison, the Goulburn SuperMax.

Tongan Police said Fisatina Puafisi, 45, of Tofoa was believed to have been lost at sea on December 23 after walking down the beach from Little Italy hotel with a kayak.

Police said they found a body around 4 pm yesterday about 1.3km north of Nuku’alofa at the Hifofua wreck at Sopu.

The body is yet to be identified.

Details of how Puafisi arrived in Tonga are unclear.

Kaniva News understands they were offered the chance to fly back to Tonga on Saturday along with the bodies of Sione Taumālolo and Talita Moimoi Fifita, but elected to stay.

The deceased will be accompanied by a number of delegations, including one made up of Tongans living in New Zealand.

The passengers on the bus were from the Mailefihi Siuʻilikutapu college brass band. They were raising money for the Tongan school’s 70th anniversary.

The Ministry of Health Director Siale ‘Akau’ola has confirmed this to Kaniva News.

Health authorities have suspected that alcohol is a factor in the fatal collision.

In a text message, ‘Akau’ola said: “Just confirmed from Vaiola Hospital that accident involved a possible drunk driving. Driver died together with one passenger. One passenger at hospital and another passenger OK”.

Police and the road authority have been trying crackdown on drink driving in Tonga following a spate of fatal road accidents this year. 

RNZ reports fifty-three people were onboard the bus when it plunged 100 metres down a steep bank killing 11-year-old Sione Taumololo, and 33 year-old Talita Fifita.

The crash victims were students of the Mailefihi Siu'Ilikutapu College brass band from Tonga who were on a fundraising tour around New Zealand.

The President of the school's alumni association in New Zealand said the bodies would undergo a post-mortem in Rotorua before arriving in Auckland today.

Mele Siuipi Latu said the remaining survivors of the crash would also arrive in Auckland today.

RNZ reports the authorities had been looking for missing kayaker, Fisatina Puafisi, who was last seen on the 23rd of December.

Tonga police confirmed the body, which had yet to be identified, was recovered about 1.3 km north of the Hifofua Wreck on the Sopu reef.

A police spokesperson said further details would be released after a formal identification was made and family had been notified.