Plea to exhume Aussie tsunami victim

THE parents of an Australian woman killed in the Samoan tsunami want their daughter's body exhumed after she was mistakenly buried with local victims.

Anita Nuualiitia ... killed in the Samoan tsunami.

THE parents of an Australian woman killed in the Samoan tsunami have applied to have their daughter's body exhumed after she was mistakenly buried with local victims last week.

Anita Nuualiitia, who grew up in Sydney's Eastwood, was swept to her death after the killer wave struck Lalomanu where her extended family operated a local beach resort.

The 30-year-old's body was found on Friday among debris near the base of a nearby mountain and is believed to have been buried within hours.

Ms Nuualiitia's sister Phoebe said she believed local officials had mistaken Anita for a local.

``She was found with another foreigner but they took the foreign person to the city morgue and left Anita behind to be buried,'' Phoebe said.

``My parents had arrived in Samoa only an hour after she was apparently buried. They went straight to the Australian Embassy to have her body exhumed and that's what we're in the process of doing now.''

The Sydney science student deferred from Macquarie University last year to help her aging grandfather run the Taufua Beach Bungalows.

She had woken early on Tuesday morning to make him a pancake breakfast when the earthquake hit off the island's south coast.

``She was with my mum's two sisters when the wave hit. It seems like there was no warning and it happened quickly,'' her sister said yesterday.

The family lost another 10 relatives, including their 98-year-old patriarch and cousins as young as one, in the disaster.

Still stunned by her death, the family described the former Cheltenham Girls High School student as warm, funny and loving.

``She was really funny, a black sense of humour. She was just such a family-orientated person and hard-working,'' Phoebe Nuualiitia said.

New Zealand-born Anita  had been living in Samoa for nine months, giving Australian and New Zealand tourists ``special care''.

``She had a close bond with Aussies and Kiwis and always took special care of them more so than other foreigners who visited there,'' her sister said.

``I spoke to her nearly every single day. It doesn't seem real that she's gone and I won't probably start to grieve until we get her body home.''

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the commission  was assisting the family.

Contact numbers for donations are below.

World Vision: 13 32 40 or www.worldvision.com.au

Caritas Australia: 1800 024 413 or www.caritas.org.au

UNICEF: 1300 884 233 or ww.unicef.org.au.

SurfAid International: www.surfaidinternational.org

Oxfam: 1800 088 110 or www.oxfam.org.au

The Red Cross: 1800 811 700 or www.redcross.org.au

Act for Peace: 1800 025 101 or www.actforpeace.org.au

Adventist Development and Relief Agency: 1800 242 372 or www.adra.org.au

CARE Australia: 1800 020 046 or www.careaustralia.org.au

Opportunity International Australia: 1800 812 164 or www.opportunity.org.au

Plan International Australia: 13 7526 or www.plan.org.au

Save the Children Australia: 1800 760 011 or www.savethechildren.org.auUniting World: 8267 4267 or www.unitingworld.org.au

Samoan Council Sydney: www.wix.com/samoancsi/samoancouncilsydney