The funeral will take place next Tuesday, a week after the deadly waves swept ashore following a powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

There were 123 confirmed dead in Samoa with another 16 people missing, government spokeswoman Vaosa Epa said Friday. There were 32 confirmed dead in neighbouring American Samoa and nine killed in nearby Tonga.

Samoan families who have already buried their dead in their own villages would have the choice of leaving them to rest in the family plot or transferring them to the mass grave at Tafaigata Cemetery.

Fiame Mataafa Naomi, the Minister of Women, Village Council and Social Development, said a memorial wall would be erected at the cemetery bearing the names of all those who died, whether or not they were buried there.

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