18 Jan 2003

Death toll in Fiji from Cyclone Ami reaches seventeen

8:27 am on 18 January 2003

The confirmed death toll from Cyclone Ami which hit northern and eastern islands of Fiji on Tuesday has risen to seventeen.

Fiji TV says this has been confirmed by the government's Disaster Management Committee, DISMAC.

Ten of the seventeen deaths are from the Labasa area where the latest body was found late yesterday.

Six other people are missing at sea presumed dead after they failed to return from a fishing trip.

No search for the missing six has been possible because police in Fiji's northern division do not have boats.

Hope is fading for eleven other people still on the missing list.