Cyclone Pam smashes into Vanuatu

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NEW ZEALAND (NEWS1130) – Aid workers say eight people are confirmed dead in Vanuatu after a massive cyclone tore through the tiny South Pacific archipelago and the death toll is expected to rise much higher.

Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer in Port Vila, said Sunday that officials from Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office confirmed to her agency that eight people in and around the capital had died during the cyclone.

She says officials haven’t been able to assess the damage in many of the hard-hit outer islands where communications remain down.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says there are unconfirmed reports of at least 44 deaths in Vanuatu’s northeastern islands.

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