A woman’s left foot was apparently run over by the front left wheel of a red vehicle during welcoming celebrations for the Tonga Invitational XIII team.
It was not immediately clear whether the woman was injured or not.
“Holomui! Holomui! Holomui!” the woman yelled at the driver pleading with them to reverse.
The woman was one of several women shown in a video footage shared online this evening.
The 15-second video clip shows Taumālolo wearing vala ngatu while he was apparently led out of a building.
Some of the women kissed and hugged Taumālolo.
Kaniva news was unable to verify where exactly the incident occurred.
The celebrations came after Tonga defeated the world rugby league champion.
“Tonga have claimed arguably the biggest scalp in rugby league history as they defeated the World Champion Australian side,” the New Zealand Herald reported.
Thousands of diehard Kau To’a fans dressed in red and paraded from the Nuku’alofa waterfront to the Central Business District yesterday Friday 15.
On Thursday the league stars were welcomed at the royal villa in Tufumāhina by Their Majesties King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u.
The king urged the players, the officials and all related parties to put aside their differences and unite in peace.
Upheavals surrounding the team which emerged months earlier before their historic victory last month had reached global media.
Tonga National Rugby League interim board called for the Invitational XIII to be boycotted because they weren’t the Mate Ma’a Tonga or even a ‘real’ Tongan team.
The national league body was eventually suspended by the Rugby League International.
Because of the bitter dispute, the Tongan team played under the name, Tongan invitational XIII and not Mate Ma’a Tonga, a solution brokered by the international rugby league authorities.
