SYDNEY — Volunteers in the New Zealand city of Rotorua are preparing two dozen white-lined coffins to be transported to Samoa at the end of the week as the measles-ravaged Pacific island nation languishes under a growing death toll that has now hit 70. The smallest of the coffins, designed for the bodies of babies, are decorated with felt butterflies, daisies, stars and hearts. Volunteers have placed a teddy bear in each of the infant-sized caskets. No-one is prepared to lose that many children," said Tagaloa Tusani, a New Zealand-based volunteer who is organizing the coffin transport. The highly infectious disease has attacked Samoa's most vulnerable, with 61 out of the 70 casualties aged four and under, the government said on Monday.

Source: International New York Times December 09, 2019 00:56 UTC