“3 CHILDHOOD MORTALITY CONFIRMED" DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
Deputy Commissioner Papalii Monalisa Tia'i Keti
Photo: Eyespy Radio / Anetone Sagaga
The Deputy Commissioner Papalii Monalisa Tia'i Keti has confirmed
three deaths of which are all children. She told the media at a press
conference on Wednesday afternoon that these were considered by the
department as their most significant cases.
In an overall summary report from last week , the deaths that were
mentioned were a newborn baby (sex unkown), a 3 year old child (sex
unknown) and a 15 year old boy. All of these children are under
special investigation by the police. The accidents that occurred were
widespread across the nation with two cases that took place in Savaii
as one here in Upolu.
The first case that was mentioned by the Deputy Commissioner Papalii
Monalisa Tia'i was of a 3 year old (sex N/A)who was found dead in his
sleep.The Deputy explained that their office received a call on the
14th October about a child death report from the health centre in
Lufilufi.
One other case involves the death of a newborn baby who died during
the delivery process in the Tuasivi Hospital in Savaii. The babies sex
was also unknown and Deputy Commisioner said they are also looking
into the details of the incident or matter as they haven't retrieved
much details about this case. "we will update as soon as we get more
info" says Papali'i.
The final incident was also in Savai'i , where the Department in the
big island received a call from the Hospital in Sataua, in need of
assistance and reporting a teen who was buried in a manifold of clay
or sand. She mentioned that they are still investigating the matter
and the cause of death.
"The Police Forensic Unit has been working on the fatal incidents
involving these young children" the minister confirms.When asked if
there were any reports on suicide she said they have recieved any
reports since last week about any suicide cases.