By Adelaide Sirox Kari in Port Moresby

Since Papua New Guinea’s EMTV News broadcast a story on an eviction at Red Hills settlement in Port Moresby, many viewers have asked about a student who was shown crying at the site of his demolished home after returning from school on the day of the eviction.

Two bulldozers under police escort destroyed about 250 homes in the settlement a week ago, forcing more than 2000 people – many of them children – to become homeless.

EMTV News visited Tokarara grade 9 student Raydan Repono’s family to see how they have been coping since the eviction.

READ MORE: School children hurt from eviction at Red Hill

It was footage that EMTV News had captured on the day of the eviction that showed a Raydan, overcome with emotion, sitting and looking on helplessly.

He cried at the sight of the place he once called home that was now being demolished before his eyes. For this student and all the other families at the eviction site, life has now become a daily struggle.

EMTV News was able to capture his family scrambling to pack what they could before the bulldozer ripped through Raydan’s home.

Yesterday Raydan explained how he felt that afternoon.

Court battle
What used to be their canteen that had provided income for the family who resided at the area since 2011 was all gone.

Through his tears, Raydan said he hoped they would win the court battle so that his family could rebuild their home again.

While EMTV News spoke with Raydan’s family, Ata Aluao, another evicted victim approached EMTV News asking to share her story also.

Ata’s family was not so lucky as their home and all their belongings were destroyed, but Ata’s real concern was her daughter in Grade 12 and another at Pacific Adventist University (PAU) who now have no roof over their heads.

Since the eviction a stay order was taken in the National Court by the settlers, who are represented under the Redhill’s Association. But even with this stay order a second eviction took place.

EMTV News contacted the Lands Department since the eviction to clarify if 16 portions of land where the eviction took place are under an expired Urban Development Lease.

EMTV News items are republished with permission.

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Tourists have been fleeing the Indonesian island of Lombok since yesterday after a magnitude-6.9 earthquake killed at least 98 people – a death toll expected to rise, reports Al Jazeera.

More than 200 people were seriously injured in Sunday’s shallow quake as rescue workers scrambled to reach survivors in remote areas.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the damage was “massive” in northern Lombok. In several districts, more than half of homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

READ MORE: What you need to know about the Lombok earthquake

Al Jazeera reports Nugroho saying the death toll will “definitely increase”, adding more than 20,000 people had been displaced.

Thousands of buildings collapsed, especially in the north, near the earthquake’s epicentre, and power and communications were down in some areas on the popular tourist island.

A tsunami alert was issued immediately after the quake struck, sending panicked people running to higher ground, but it was later rescinded, Al Jazeera reports.

“When it happened, we stood with residents in the middle of the street and watched houses collapse around us,” said Yustrianda Sirio, who was visiting the island.

‘Screamed hysterically’
“Many of us screamed hysterically.”

Some airlines have added extra flights to help tourists leave the island, while about 1200 foreign and domestic tourists were evacuated by boat from three Gili islands off Lombok’s northwest coast, said Nugroho.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Tanjung in northern Lombok (see video), said: “The destruction here is unbelievable.

“After there was a tsunami alert yesterday, a lot of [tourists] panicked; they climbed into trees, they ran into the hills, a lot of people got injured there,” she said.

“There’s no arrangement, there’s no transport, there’s no food, there’s no water for them, so a lot of them are completely lost, they’re completely confused, still scared and the only thing they’re telling me is that they want to leave the country as soon as possible.”

The Indonesian military said it was sending a vessel with medical aid and supplies and would provide logistical support.

• Earlier story – quake toll rises to 91