On January 14 and 15, 2022, a large-scale volcanic eruption occurred in the waters off Hongaha Apai Island in Tonga in the South Pacific, the most intense volcanic eruption so far this century.

As of now, communication between Tonga and the outside world is still interrupted.

　　In the past 4 days, 30-year-old Jiang Luhua tried to contact her husband Zhu Gehua every day, and refreshed the latest news from Tonga, but she still failed to contact her husband.

On the morning of January 19, Jiang Luhua told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn), "It has entered the fifth day, I just want to confirm whether he is safe."

　　Jiang Luhua and her husband Zhu Gehua are from Meizhou City, Guangdong Province.

According to Jiang Luhua, Zhu Gehua was born in 1989 and went out to work hard after graduating from junior high school.

Zhu Gehua had a marriage and had a son. After the divorce, he met Jiang Luhua, and the two entered into marriage later.

A few years ago, the couple ran a food stall in Zhongshan, Guangdong, but the business was not good.

　　Jiang Luhua said that they have a cousin named Jiang Qingzhong who has been doing business in Tonga for more than 20 years.

Introduced by her cousin, in 2016, she and her husband went to Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, to seek development opportunities.

Later, Zhu Gehua worked in a local fried chicken restaurant by the sea, not far from the Chinese embassy in Tonga, with a container pickup center and a fish market nearby.

　　In 2017, Jiang Luhua found out that she was pregnant and returned to China.

During labor, Zhu Gehua came back, but returned to Tonga 42 days after the baby was born.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, Zhu Gehua has not been able to return to China for four years.

"Now that my daughter is 4 years old, she is in kindergarten, and she has not seen her father very much." Jiang Luhua said.

　　Usually, the couple communicate through WeChat, and video chat almost every night.

At about 12:00 on January 15, 2022, Zhu Gehua posted a video in the WeChat family group. In the video, the weather in Tonga was gloomy, and granular objects fell and hit the car window. Zhu Gehua said in the group, "( Tonga) had a hailstorm".

Jiang Luhua believes that according to the information after the event, it may not be hail but volcanic ash that fell on the car window at that time.

　　This is Zhu Gehua's last contact with his family.

After learning about the eruption of the Tonga volcano, Jiang Luhua tried to contact Zhu Gehua over and over again, but to no avail.

Jiang Luhua said that on January 17, she called the Global Consular Protection and Service Emergency Call Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the other party registered Zhu Gehua's information.

　　"I can't sleep all night now. I wait for the latest news from Tonga every day, I just want to make sure he is safe." Jiang Luhua said.

　　Jiang Luhua said that she takes care of the elderly and children in her hometown in Meizhou, and the family's income is highly dependent on her husband Zhu Gehua. Zhu Gehua basically remits money home every three or four months, usually 5,000 Tonga dollars each time, equivalent to RMB 14,000 or so.

In July 2021, her daughter was scalded by boiling water, and she really wanted her husband to be by her side.

Half a month ago, Zhu Gehua's father was diagnosed with uremia and went to the hospital for dialysis three times a week. The family did not dare to tell the old man that "there was an accident in Tonga, and Zhu Gehua lost contact".

　　According to Jiang Luhua, their cousin Jiang Qingzhong was also missing, and his family was also anxious.

　　Surging News previously reported that on January 14 and 15 local time, a submarine volcano erupted on Aha Apai Island in Tonga Hong, and Japan, the United States, New Zealand, Fiji and other countries subsequently issued tsunami warnings.

On January 18, the Tonga government issued its first statement after the disaster, saying that the eruption had killed three people and injured some others.

A few days ago, Tonga's submarine communication fiber optic cable was damaged in a volcanic eruption, and the country is still in a state of loss of communication with the outside world.

The communications outage also hampered international relief efforts.

In response, Huawei Philippines said it expected Tonga to resume international voice communications within this week.

　　Cao Xiaolin, Chinese ambassador to Tonga, said in an interview with CCTV news, "After the eruption of the volcano, our embassy immediately launched an emergency plan, strengthened communication with relevant departments of the Tongan government, and made every effort to protect the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in Tonga. , there are more than 1,000 Chinese citizens and company employees. We have conducted a comprehensive investigation, and they are all safe, living and working normally. Due to the interruption of communication between Tonga and the outside world, we asked the Tongan government to assist in understanding the situation of Chinese citizens in the outer islands. And actively provide assistance. In the past few days, our embassy staff have visited some families of Chinese citizens who were severely affected by the disaster, and provided necessary assistance. In addition, because we could not get in touch with family members in China, we also sent them to them through appropriate means. The relatives in China are safe. I also want to report to the audience in front of the TV through this interview that your relatives and friends in Tonga are safe.”

　　The Paper reporter Chen Xuhou, intern Shi Ke