Landslides claim five lives
ON April 5 1980, The Fiji Times ran a story on a series of flooding events that occurred in south and south-eastern Viti Levu, claiming the lives of five people, including a woman and her three children.
A landslide near the Suva Cemetery swept a house away and killed Maya Wati, 30, her daughters Sarita, 6, Anjani, 2, and 11-month-old Dharmesh.
The fifth victim was an unidentified man of about 60 years. His body was found in Qauia, Lami.
A survivor of that killer landslide, Navitalai Rasea, described how he frantically tried to lever a boulder away from the door to rescue the three children and their mother while the hillside above them came crashing around him.
His own life was saved by his mate, Akuila Bati, who screamed a warning at the last minute.
“I could still hear them inside, crying and begging me to get them out,” Mr Rasea said.
“A huge boulder had blocked the door and I could find nothing to lever it away.”
He leapt for his life as tonnes of mud and rocks smashed the house flat and buried Maya and her three children who were celebrating Dharmesh’s birthday that day, Good Friday.
Less than 10 minutes later, the children’s father, Dwarka Prasad, returned home from the shop with kerosene which was to be used to cook the birthday party food.
Crying with anguish, he scraped through the mud for the bodies of his wife and children.
Mr Prasad said he had lost everything.
His tenant, Mr Rasea, and the police helped in the rescue operation.
Mr Rasea, his wife Sainimere and friend Mr Bai rented the upper floor of the doomed house while Mr Prasad and his family lived downstairs.
Mr Bati said about 4pm, they were having tea.
He went outside and noticed the rushing rainwater had changed colour to muddy brown and rocks were being washed down.
“When I saw a couple of pawpaw trees give way, I realised the hillside was sliding,” he said,
“I yelled out to Navitalai and he and his wife escaped through the window.”
Mr Rasea called out a warning to the family downstairs but a boulder rolled in front of the door. “They could not get out. “I told them I would try to lever it away but I could find nothing,” Mr Rasea said.
“All the time, I could hear them crying out.”
The landslide flattened the house.
Navitalai then realised they would have to dig and ran through the Suva Cemetery to get help. He found the police on patrol on the road. When they got back, they found the little girls lying in the mud.
“I picked them up but they were dead.”
Another landslide survivor, Nazima Bibi, was pulled injured from her crumbling three-bedroom home by neighbours at Qauia.
“About 3:30pm on Friday, I put my four children on my bed in the bedroom and went into the kitchen to put our clothes and things on tables above the rising flood,” Nazima said.
She said the house began to shake and everything was just falling on her.
She did not know what was happening.
“I was crying with fear and screaming for help.”
Part of the house fell on Nazima and a large nail injured her leg.
She was taken to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital for treatment.
I could still hear them inside, crying and begging me to get them out. A huge boulder had blocked the door ... Navitalai Rasea