NZ issues travel warning following Tongan riots

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) on Thursday warned against traveling to the Pacific island Tonga after riots erupted in its capital Nuku' alofa.

MFAT spokeswoman Helen Tunnah said the ministry is in contact with Tonga and information on the situation is still coming in.

She said Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, who is at the APEC meeting in Hanoi, has been briefed.

About 600 New Zealand residents live in Tonga.

A rioting crowds trashed property in central Nuku'alofa,capital of Tonga, Thursday afternoon.

The crowds left the central supermarket Molisi Tonga in a tangled mess of broken glass and the streets smelling of spilled beer as looters joined rioters in a spree of destruction.

People throw stones at the Prime Minister's office and the cabinet office. They turned over police vehicles and vehicles of the Prime Minister's office.

Local media said the riot erupted after the government refused to approve reforms immediately.

Source: Xinhua