(Picture: Instagram)
The body of a British woman swept away by the tsunami in Tonga has been found, her brother has said.
Animal charity worker Angela Glover, 50, disappeared after her coastal home was hit by a large tsunami, caused by an undersea volcano erupting on Saturday.
Her husband James is reported to have managed to hold on to a tree, but Ms Glover and their dogs disappeared.
Ms Glover’s brother Nick Eleini said the family is “devastated” and has asked for time for the family to grieve.
He told Sky News: "I understand that this terrible accident came about as they tried to rescue their dogs.”
He added: “She was beautiful. She was absolutely a ray of sunshine. She would walk into a room and just lighten a room up.”
He said: “Angela and James loved their life in Tonga and adored the Tongan people, in particular the Tongan love of family and the Tongan culture.”
Ms Glover, originally from Brighton, co-managed a tattoo parlour and ran a dog rescue centre in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa.
Australia and New Zealand have dispatched surveillance flights to assess the damage in Tonga after the eruption of an underwater volcano triggered a tsunami and blanketed the Pacific island with ash.
Information about the extent of the damage remains scarce as the eruption caused internet and phone lines to go down on Saturday evening, leaving the 105,000 residents on the islands virtually uncontactable.
Mr Eleini, who lives in Sydney, has arrived back in the UK to be with his mother because he is now “her only biological child”.
“She really needs me,” he said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman reported missing in Tonga and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Aid organisations say up to 80,000 people on the islands could be affected by the disaster, but so far no deaths have been reported.
A source at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was assisting British nationals and their families.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said communications are limited and so contact has not been made with coastal areas beyond the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa.
Nuku’alofa is “covered in thick plumes of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable,” she said. “We have not yet received news from other coastal areas.”
Ms Ardern later said the main undersea communications cable was affected, most likely because of a loss of power.
However, she also said power was being restored in some areas on the islands and local mobile phones were slowly starting to connect to networks.
The International Federation of Red Cross said it was mobilising its regional network to respond to what it called the worst volcanic eruptions the Pacific has experienced in decades.
