Two Tongan seasonal workers who survived an alleged knife attack that killed their friend Hiko Lynch in Blenheim, New Zealand have been released from hospital.
The two men were injured in the early hours of Sunday morning, 20 June.
They were released from Blenheim’s Wairau Hospital, a Nelson Marlborough Health spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Lynch and the two men were out celebrating a birthday when they were seriously injured in what police believe was an altercation between the Tongan men and a gang from outside the region, according to Stuff.co.
A total of 10 people were arrested in the hours that followed, with charges ranging from murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and assault, to possession of a knife in a public place.
The Tongan men were in the country on the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.
Tonga's Ministry of Internal Affairs chief executive Dr Fotu Fisiiahi said the injured men would return home once they had recovered.
Officials from the Tongan government’s RSE liaison office were sent to Blenheim to support the men and the wider Tongan community.
They were also working with Immigration New Zealand to return Lynch to his family in Tonga on a repatriation flight on June 30, after a post-mortem assessment had been completed in Christchurch.
Lynch, one of seven children, had been in New Zealand since 2019 working in the horticulture and viticulture industries. He had not been able to return home between seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He had planned to marry his fiancee of six years when he returned to his hometown of Holonga.
Lynch’s employer, Hortus, had started a Givealittle page to support the 23-year-old’s family and about $14,000 has been raised in the past seven days.