Patrick
Decloitre, Correspondent French Pacific
Desk
French Polynesian authorities have retrieved a
total of eight bodies that were buried following a major
landslide on its main island of Tahiti.
The disaster
struck several houses in the town of Afaahiti-Taravao,
southeast of Tahiti, on Wednesday, around 5am local time
(Thursday NZT).
The final toll comes after one day and
one night of searching for potential survivors.
The
search operations involved about 200 emergency staff,
gendarmes and firemen, medical emergency teams, underground
cameras, radars, drones but also an army helicopter as well
as sniffer dogs.
One of the victims is a
three-year-old girl.
Earlier, in this hillside
village, search operations had to stop due to more
landslides and collapse of whole portions of the mountain
soaked by huge amounts of water accumulated, following days
of torrential rains.
French Polynesia President Moetai
Brotherson said a medico-psychological assistance unit
remained active to help local population cope with the
disaster.
French High Commissioner Alexandre Rochatte
said an investigation for “manslaughter” was underway to try
and establish the causes of the tragedy and whether the
affected buildings and location met the requirements for
dwellings of this type and the constructed zone.
“This
type of tragedy reminds us why there are rules”, Brotherson
said.
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“Some of these houses are over forty years old”,
he pointed out.
He said current building regulations
and requirements were now “stricter”.
Flags flying at
half mast
All flags at public buildings in French
Polynesia are flying at half mast and Friday’s sitting of
the Territorial Assembly will be marked by one minute of
silence in homage to the victims.
Brotherson also said
an “ecumenical” religious service is currently being
prepared.
Messages of condolence, support and
solidarity have flowed, including from French President
Emmanuel Macron and French minister for overseas territories
Naïma Moutchou.
Moutchou said a team of geological
experts was on its way from Nouméa (New Caledonia) and
Paris with a mission to establish whether the
landslide-affected zone was secure or
not.
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