When the MV Kadavulevu met its end 60 years ago, Viliame Qelo, then only 14 years of age, was the youngest of three survivors found adrift on their rafts — three and a half days after the tragedy.
Now at 74, he is reminiscing the disaster which claimed the lives of his parents and more than 80 others who were travelling to Suva after attending an Easter weekend church event at Waitoga Village in Nairai.
“I remember the desperate cries for help, my mum with me at the bottom of the ship and my dad at the top deck, and the ship capsizing in very rough seas,” he told this newspaper.
Yesterday, his close family members were at Levuka Vakaviti, Ovalau to attend a family reunion and commemorate the 60th anniversary of the MV Kadavulevu tragedy.
“It’s good to be back with family. If it wasn’t for their support, my journey wouldn’t be easy.”
