SUVA (The Fiji Times/PINA) — Four children and two adults were buried alive in their homes in what is believed to be the worst landslide on Fiji’s Rabi Island.
The tragedy, which happened in Buakonikai Village on the southern side of the island, claimed the lives of four children, their aunt and a neighbor.
Rabi is the home of the people from Banaba in Kiribati who were resettled in Fiji because of the damage to Banaba from phosphate mining.
Speaking from the island, Rabi Island councilor Iowane Tabuariki said the island was in a state of shock.
He said heavy rain from Saturday caused the landslide which buried the two homes.
The children’s parents, Karebo Ieremaia and Ieremaia Tanian, managed to escape unhurt because they were sleeping in the sitting room of their concrete home.
Florisa Ieremia, a class six student, Tarai Ieremaia, class four, Patrick Ieremaia, form four, and Felix Ieremaia, class five, never had a chance to escape the collapse of the nearby hillside.
Their aunt, Wewe Tuongo, who was asleep with the children in the bedroom, died with them. Another villager, Eneti Samuelu, died in the adjacent home.
Tabuariki said the whole hillside “simply covered the concrete homes when it came down. It all happened in seconds,” he said, adding that it happened too fast for the parents to save their children.
Roads to Buakonikai were closed yesterday as villagers worked to clear it of debris.
