Vodafone Vanuatu CEO Thoman Bruce says they have managed to contact a few Fijian families in Port Vila, and so far, all the families contacted are in good health.
While speaking to fijivillage News from Port Vila, Bruce says 14 people had died, while more than 300 were injured following the devastating magnitude 7.3 quake on Tuesday.
When asked about the nationalities of those who had died, Bruce says he only knows about the son of a French-Vietnamese friend of his and a Chinese man who had been on the ground floor of another building that collapsed.
He further says the hospital was quite busy with injured people.
Bruce also says they had sent out messages on their Facebook group, requesting the community to contact Vodafone Vanuatu or send a text message if any urgent help was required.
He also says there is a lot of assistance coming from various countries, including Australia and New Zealand, with a couple of planes having arrived yesterday.
He also says that in Port Vila, most areas have no electricity or water, as the water supply system has been affected.
In terms of communication, Bruce says Vodafone had managed to restore international voice calls, allowing people and families to stay in touch; however, internet services remained disrupted because the power system in the data centre had been affected by the earthquake, with repair works underway.
He says they have enabled instant messaging on WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger to help families in Vanuatu communicate with their loved ones.
According to a situation report by UNICEF, at least 40,000 children in Vanuatu are in need of humanitarian assistance, while at least 80,000 people have been affected, largely within the capital city of Port Vila on the island of Efate.
The agency says it was working to distribute emergency first aid kits and supplies to the main hospital and across the community.
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