“We know nothing”: Relatives ask Ebrard to repatriate two Mexicans trapped in Tonga
Relatives of Lesli Elisa Nava Flores and David Olaf Santillán González, Mexicans who are stranded in Tonga, asked Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard for help to locate them so they can be repatriated, due to the pandemic and the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha volcano have prevented them from leaving this country, located in the South Pacific.
According to reports, the two biologists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and professional divers had been working in Tonga for two years on a project for the preservation of endemic coral and other marine species in the region, but a tsunami left more than 100,000 people trapped, including the two Mexicans.
Mexicans in Tonga
Amelia Nava, Lesli’s sister, said that on Saturday night they had the last communication with her thanks to the fact that the British embassy lent her a satellite phone to get in touch and although they know that they were staying at a hotel near the Tonga airport, They don’t know anything about Mexicans.
He said that the Mexicans Lesli and David had asked to leave Tonga for weeks, but they could not do so, because the flights were restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so they contacted Alejandro Ramos Cardoso, from the Embassy of Mexico in New Zealand to ask them for help.
Relatives of David reported that before the recent eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, on Saturday night David sent the last WhatsApp to tell them that the volcano had just made a very strong eruption and they were staying in a hotel in front of the airport waiting for instructions from the authorities and finally lost communication.
Although no deaths have been reported, there have been disappearances and the governments of Australia and New Zealand sent military aid to Tonga, the relatives of these Mexicans requested help from consular authorities, since last January 15 they have not heard from both of them who opened a Facebook account Mexicans in Tonga, where they told about their trip to Tonga.
Source: jornada.com.mx, unotv.com