The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga’s New Zealand’s Superintendent, Rev. Lopini Filise, has offered a message of sympathy to the families of the two people killed in Saturday’s bus crash.
Rev. Filise appeared on a video this morning recorded at the mortuary where the deceased are being kept and was heard describing their conditions as “faka’ofa” (pitiful).
Student Sione Taumololo, 11, and a mother and wife Talita Fifita, 33, were killed when the bus on which they were travelling crashed through a road barrier and 100 metres down a bank on State Highway Two about 30km south of Gisborne at 9.30pm on Saturday.
They were among 53 members of a group travelling with the Mailefihi Siu’ilikutapu college brass band which was on a fundraising tour of New Zealand.
The church’s General Secretary, Rev. Tevita Koloa’ia Havea, issued a statement from the church’s headquarter in Tonga saying the church was shocked and touched by the incident.
The Free Wesleyan Church owns the college.
Rev Dr Havea said plans have been organised in Vava’u and Tongatapu for the group when they returned from New Zealand.
He said the church pastors and some congregations had been at the scene since day one and in Gisborne where the survivors had been looked after.
Dr. Havea praised the sense of togetherness people around the globe had shared with the church members at this very difficult time.
Dr. Havea said it was important to sympathise with the families who were affected physically and psychologically.
A spokesperson for the group in Gisborne told Kaniva News this evening the bodies of the deceased were expected to be taken to Rotorua for post mortems tomorrow before they were sent to Auckland later this week.
He said the New Zealand government had offered to fly the rest of the group to Auckland tomorrow or Thursday.
He said it was expected the whole group and the bodies of the deceased would leave Auckland for Tonga on Saturday.
The spokesperson said there were plans for a prayer vigil for the deceased on Friday night in Auckland before they leave for Tonga.
Donations
Meanwhile, the survivors of the crash have been overwhelmed by donations of clothes, foods and personal belongings.
Photos with captions posted to Facebook by members of the Gisborne Tongan community show the survivors being fed in a hall.
Some photos showed Mailefihi Siu’ilikutapu college students with stacks of clothing, blankets and bedsheets.
Gisborne woman Kristina Williams, who was one of the first people on the scene of the crash, has started a fundraising page in an effort to help.
She said the survivors’ belongings were strewn down the steep bank where the crash occurred.
She said the money would go towards getting them out of Gisborne.
“As you can imagine, they don’t want to get on a bus again, so I’m trying to work with Air New Zealand to get them on a plane out of here, and that’s going to cost them a fair bit,” News Talk ZB reported.
The Givealittle page has so far, raised more than NZ$27,000.
You can donate here.
The main points
- The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga’s New Zealand’s Superintendent, Rev. Lopini Filise, has offered a message of sympathy to the families of the two people killed in Saturday’s bus crash.
- Filise appeared on a video this morning recorded at the mortuary where the deceased are being kept and was heard describing their conditions as “faka’ofa” (pitiful).
- Student Sione Taumololo, 11 and a mother and wife Talita Fifita, 33, were killed when the bus on which they were travelling crashed through a road barrier and 100 metres down a bank on State Highway Two about 30km south of Gisborne at 9.30pm on Saturday.
- They were among 53 members of a group travelling with the Mailefihi Siu’ilikutapu college brass band which was on a fundraising tour of New Zealand.
For more information
Vavaʻu band group in fatal crash in NZ to raise $200,000 for College’s 70th anniversary
