Photos by Linny Folau.

A fire gutted the home of Tonga's Prime Minister Hon ‘Akilisi Pohiva this morning at Hala-‘o-Vave.

The Prime Minister is overseas in New Zealand on family medical leave and no one was at home at the time of the fire.

Lofia Heimuli, the Fire and Emergency Commissioner, said this afternoon that the incident was reported to them at around 10:20am by 'Eva Pohiva, the daughter-in-law.

Firefighters arrived at the scene five minutes later. “At that time the house was not burning as what we normally see with a burning house but was in a stage of smoke coming out from the house,” he said.

The cement house was gutted and the contents destroyed.

“At present the fire remains an accident while our investigation continues and hopefully we will get more information that could help determine the cause,” said Lofia.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office reported that Hon. 'Akilisi Pohiva was in good health after undergoing a routine medical check up in Auckland. He is expected return to Tonga this weekend and resume duty on Monday, 27 April.