Tonga’s Princess Regent Pilolevu Tuita and other members of the Pacific island’s royal family threw wreaths in the ocean in tribute to the 74 passengers and crew who lost their lives as MV Princess Ashika sank en route between Tonga’s islands.
The Princess Regent, dressed in black, did so from the bow of MV Pulupaki, which had sailed from the capital Nuku’alofa for a somber funeral service over the spot where the ferry sank to the bottom of the ocean, out of reach of conventional divers and diving equipment.
Three ships, an inter-island ferry, and the two patrol boats of the Tongan Navy, with some 400 relatives and friends of the lost passengers and crew, had travelled to the area, which is marked by buoys. With the Princess Regent, who had addressed the nation on the eve of the funeral service, were also Tonga’s Prime Minister, Feleti Sevele, other government officials and foreign diplomats.
A marble memorial stone, in the shape of a coffin, with the names of all those who lost their lives at sea (only two bodies were recovered), was lowered into the waters, after a short memorial service at sea. ‘It was a historical event in many ways, because Tongans culturally expect to bury their dead in a family graveyard, where they can continue to pay tributes’, Tonga’s Matangi newspaper wrote. © GPD; Sources: Min of Inf; AP; Matangi
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