Tonga volcano: islands covered in ash as three deaths confirmed

Pictures from New Zealand defence force surveillance flight and UN satellite images show land and trees coated in ash

Some of the first images have emerged from Tonga's volcano and tsunami-hit islands, after a New Zealand defence force surveillance flight returned from the cut-off country, as three deaths from the disaster have been confirmed in Tonga.

Aerial photography of Nomuka, a small island in the southern part of the Haapai group, shows land and trees coated with ash and other damage inflicted by the huge undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami that hit the Pacific nation on Saturday.