The first foreign rescue flight has landed in Tong after the island was rocked by a massive tsunami on Saturday

New Zealand is officially on the ground in Tonga with the first foreign aid plane officially landing, carrying much-needed water and supplies for the Pacific nation.

The military plane landed at Tonga’s main airport after workers cleared ash from the runway.

More planes and ships sent by New Zealand and Australia are on the way and they will of course be critical to helping Tonga during this time.

Saturday’s eruption of an undersea volcano and tsunami wave saw volcanic ash blanketing the islands, posing a serious health risk, with the ash and sea water contaminating fresh water supplies.

At least three people have died during the wild weather event

Communications have also been crippled, and Tonga has only just begun to re-establish global contact after five days cut off from the rest of the world.

New Zealand predicts the damaged communication cable will take at least four weeks to fix.

As for what is on this first flight:

This plane contains Equipment to repair and boost telecommunications and will also deliver basic water, medicine and hygiene supplies.