Some families from Vanuatu's Ambae island who had been waiting to board a ship to Maewo have returned to their village to bury a family member who died as a result of asthma.
The population of Ambae is being moved off the island because of continuing issues with ashfall and smoke caused by the Manaro volcano which has been erupting intermittently since September last year.
A community leader from Lolovenue village confirmed that the dead man was taken to the nearest health centre where he later died.
The leader also confirmed that they had asked the authorities coordinating the evacuation from Ambae to allow the families to spend a few more days on Ambae to mourn the dead man.
At this stage the evacuation operation is expected to end on Friday.