The Samoan government has today confirmed that it will hold a mass funeral for the victims of the tsunami.
After consulting families of the victims for a second time in Apia today, the government announced it will be held at 10am on Thursday which is this Friday, Fiji time.
Relatives had earlier asked for more time for other family members to arrive from overseas.
Meanwhile, approximately 100 bodies are in the morgue and the Samoan government has offered to pay the casket and cemetery costs for them.
Meanwhile, an RNZAF Boeing 757 has arrived in Samoa carrying more aid and specialists from New Zealand.
Among those on the flight is a specialist team of 15 police officers and dogs to help with the retrieval of bodies.
There are also more than a dozen medical personnel, including a surgical team and two doctors and two nurses who speak Samoan.
A total of 170 people have now died from Wednesday's tsunami disaster, 129 of them in Samoa.
Mass funeral for tsunami victims
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