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Eight missing after New Zealand volcano eruption

  • December 10, 2019

Eight people are still missing and presumed dead, a day after a volcanic eruption shook New Zealand’s White Island, police said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government would investigate the incident. She told a press conference that aerial reconnaissance flights overnight hadn’t found any survivors.

Unstable conditions on the island were hampering rescue efforts and authorities were assessing whether to send a recovery mission to remove bodies.

“We share in your unfathomable grief in this moment at time,” Ardern told victims’ families. “The focus this morning is on recovery and ensuring police can do that safely.”

Recovery mission 

A total of 47 people were on the island when the volcano erupted on Monday afternoon, sending plumes of ash thousands of meters into the air. Police said 31 people were in hospital, while three others were discharged after receiving treatment.

The government said 27 of the 31 injured suffered greater than 71% body surface burns and that it’s possible not all would survive. 

Among the injured and missing were people from Australia, the US, Britain, China, Germany, Malaysia, as well as New Zealand.

Separately, police announced it was too soon to say if they would open a criminal investigation into the deaths of tourists on the island. 
Read more: Mount Etna erupts, spews lava chunks

  • People on a boat at Whakaari, White Island

    New Zealand volcano eruption — in pictures

    Last-second escape

    Tourist Michael Schade wrote on Twitter as he posted video of the eruption that his “family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it. Boat ride home tending to people our boat rescued was indescribable.”

  • Smoke billows from Whakaari, also known as White Island

    New Zealand volcano eruption — in pictures

    Whakaari smoke billows

    Massive clouds of smoke and debris billow from New Zealand’s White Island (also known as Whakaari) in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. It’s a destination that’s popular with tourists because of its unusual, moon-like surface.

  • Aerial view of hikers on White Island's crater rim

    New Zealand volcano eruption — in pictures

    Aerial view of hikers

    This aerial view shows a group of tourists at the crater’s rim before it erupted. About 10,000 people visit the volcano every year. It was unclear whether the group was alerted to flee or was continuing a tour, unaware of the looming danger.

  • Thick smoke

    New Zealand volcano eruption — in pictures

    Thick smoke

    Thick clouds of ash, steam and debris spew from New Zealand’s most active volcano cone, 70% of which is underwater, according to New Zealand volcano agency GeoNet. It has erupted frequently over the last half-century, most recently in 2016.

  • Injured tourists are ferried into waiting ambulances after the White Island volcano eruption

    New Zealand volcano eruption — in pictures

    Hospitalized

    Injured tourists are ferried into waiting ambulances ready to transport them to several hospitals including Whakatane, Tauranga, Middlemore and Auckland City, following the eruption.


Popular tourist attraction

White Island, known as Whakaari in the Maori language, is the peak of an active submarine volcano that lies some 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It draws around 10,000 visitors each year.

Volcano-monitoring agency GeoNet raised the alert level for White Island last month after detecting an increase in volcanic activity. Ardern said any questions about whether tourists should be visiting the area would be addressed once search and rescue efforts were concluded.

Read more: The Lake Laach volcano in Germany is ‘recharging’ with fresh magma

White Island is New Zealand’s most active cone volcano. It last erupted in 2016, without causing injuries. The last fatal eruption was in 1914, when 12 people were killed.

  • Plume of smoke rises up from Eyjafjällajökull crater (AP)

    Fire and ashes: Most troublesome volcanos of our time

    Remember Eyjafjallajökull?

    The Icelandic volcano with a famously unpronounceable name erupted in 2010, throwing up a massive cloud of ash into the air and disrupting air traffic all across Europe and North Atlantic. A total of 100,000 flights were canceled within one week.

  • Etna erupting in Sicily. (picture alliance/AP Photo/S. Allegra)

    Fire and ashes: Most troublesome volcanos of our time

    Mount Etna: Europe’s biggest volcano

    The snow-covered volcano in Sicily, Mount Etna, is both Europe’s largest and its most active volcano. It has been continuously erupting for centuries with more or less intensity. At least 10 people were injured when Etna suddenly launched volcanic rocks and steam in 2017.

  • Indonesien - Mount Agung (Reuters/Antara Foto/N. Budhiana)

    Fire and ashes: Most troublesome volcanos of our time

    Trouble in Bali paradise

    Indonesia’s Mount Agung erupted in November 2017 and again in June 2018. Both eruptions prompted authorities to close down the airport in the tourist resort, effectively stranding thousands of visitors.

  • A policeman runs away from the volcano in Guatemala (Reuters/L. Echeverria)

    Fire and ashes: Most troublesome volcanos of our time

    Panic and death in Guatemala

    The sudden eruption of Guatemala’s Volcan de Fuego in June 2018 left hundreds dead or missing. The volcano also launched ash nearly six kilometers (four miles) into the sky, blanketing nearby villages.

  • Flow of lava seen behind a house in Hawai (Reuters/T. Sylvester)

    Fire and ashes: Most troublesome volcanos of our time

    Kilauea – the rage of Pele

    Hawaii’s ancient religion names the goddess Pele as the ruler of volcanoes and fire. One of the volcanoes under her command is Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island, which has been erupting since 1983. The eruptions escalated in 2018, with walls of moving lava swallowing streets and destroying hundreds of homes.

    Author: Darko Janjevic


nm/dr (AFP, dpa, AP)

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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/eight-missing-after-new-zealand-volcano-eruption/a-51602205?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

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