A public holiday has been declared for Wednesday 7 November 2018 in Samoa, to mark 100 years since the start of the influenza pandemic that killed over 20% of the population.
On 7 November 1918, the New Zealand passenger and cargo ship Talune arrived in Apia from Auckland, with sick passengers on board. The New Zealand administrators allowed the Talune in with no quarantine checks, and the highly infectious pneumonic influenza spread rapidly, killing at least 8,500 people - in less than two months.
The handling of the outbreak and the seeming indifference of the colonial administrator, Robert Logan, was a catalyst for a movement against New Zealand rule.
In commemoration of that day and the tragic turn of events in 1918, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sailele Malielegaoi has declared a public holiday and Samoa's government said the commemoration will be marked with a church service and ceremony at the mass grave at Vaimea, one of the largest of many mass graves around country.
