Bodies of road crash victims arrive in Tonga

TONGA – The bodies of four of the five men killed in the Bay of Plenty road crash last week were flown back to Tonga on Saturday.

About 30 people accompanied the bodies of Uloupini and Koli Vaipulu, Sione Teulaka and Samuela Taukatelata on the flight from Auckland to Fua’amotu International Airport.

The men were killed when their car was hit by a logging truck as they left work from a kiwifruit coolstore near Katikati in the Bay of Plenty.

Many of their workmates were not on the flight back to Tonga because they have elected to stay on in New Zealand to keep working and earn money for the bereaved families.

Those who have stayed in Katikati held a small private ceremony at the weekend as the cortege of hearses stopped briefly at the cool store.

Packhouse manager Clive Excelby said friends and co-workers wanted to have a final chance to say good-bye.

He said they placed their hands on the caskets and prayed before the hearses left for Mangere Airport.

“They just went slowly and we walked each side of the six vehicles until we got to the main highway. Then we farewelled them and stood there and watched them go up the highway to Auckland.”

He said it was just a small private occasion and meant a lot to those left behind.

Cool store operator Allan Dawson said he had been stunned at how many of the workers were staying in New Zealand to keep earning money to send to their friends’ families in Tonga.

“We were heartened by the fact that the Tongan people wouldn’t go back as we had first thought with the bodies but would stay on for the next month to earn money. And that they were going to donate that money from now on,” he said

Dawson said the generosity of everyone working at the cool store had been humbling.

“They just give when giving is necessary irrespective of whether they have greater need themselves. A lot of our staff feel the same way. Some of them who have given money can ill afford to but that’s just how they are and it’s how it has affected them.”

Chief executive of the Tongan Department of Internal Affairs Ana Bing-Fonua was one of the 30 people travelling to Tonga with the bodies.

The flight was met by government officials for a short service at Fua’amotu.

Bing-Fonua said the workers staying behind to earn money for the families were making an amazing gesture.

“Absolutely an example to many people that they would continue to serve for the families of these boys that we have lost. That they would go out of their way to support and do all that they can.” - PNC sources