PAPEETE: A landslide has buried two homes, killing eight people including a three-year-old girl, on the French Pacific island of Tahiti, authorities said Thursday in a final toll.
The disaster struck at dawn on Wednesday — late evening in mainland France — in the eastern village of Afaahiti after a week of heavy rain.
Those killed also included three women and four men, local prosecutor Solene Belaouar said, adding that all those missing had been found dead.
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier reported seven killed, and extended “the nation’s full support to the families affected.”
France’s high commissioner for French Polynesia said a “30-meter-high” landslide had swept one house away, sending it crashing into a second.
A resident of Afaahiti told AFP she had been woken early Wednesday by what sounded like a train outside her home.
“We went outside and saw that a house was completely covered by earth and mud,” said Ida Labbeyi.
Rescue operations had to be suspended for several hours after a second landslide nearly swept away members of the rescue team.
Tahiti, nearly 16,000 kilometers (9,950 miles) from Paris is one of several French overseas territories that span the Caribbean and the Pacific.
French Polynesia comprises more than 100 islands, including Tahiti.
Eight killed in Tahiti after landslide buries two homes
https://arab.news/8kx3c
Eight killed in Tahiti after landslide buries two homes
- The disaster struck at dawn on Wednesday in the eastern village of Afaahiti
- Those killed also included three women and four men
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done
- “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told The Atlantic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had sought to back US peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.
Zelensky, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine’s interests.
“The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told the US-based publication. “That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along.”
He said Ukraine was “not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready.”
Zelensky has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. A ceasefire and proposed US security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.
“No one is clinging to power,” The Atlantic quoted him as saying. “I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
And he added: “I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.
Zelensky has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.
But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the US would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.
“This hasn’t been fixed yet,” Zelensky said. “We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out.”
