Missing from New Zealand volcanic eruption ‘likely dead’
New Zealand police say the eight people who went missing after a volcanic eruption on a tourist island in the country are likely dead.
The volcano on New Zealand’s White Island erupted on Monday, killing five people, wounding more than 30, and leaving eight others unaccounted for.
According to police, 47 people were on the island — which is a popular tourist attraction — at the time of the eruption: 24 from Australia, nine from the United States, five from New Zealand, four from Germany, two from China and the UK each, and one from Malaysia.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said three Australians were feared to be among the dead, with 13 among the injured, adding, “I fear there is worse news to come.”
New Zealand’s Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said of the missing, no one could have survived.
“I would strongly suggest that there is no one that has survived on the island,” Tims said.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also said reconnaissance flights had found no signs of human life on the volcanic island.
Ardern also said there had been two groups on the island, “those who were able to be evacuated and those who were close to the eruption.”
Peter Watson, the government’s chief medical officer, said that at least 27 people of the wounded suffered greater than 71 percent body surface burns, adding that some could succumb to their injuries.
The island has been covered in gray ash, making search efforts difficult.
GNS Science, New Zealand’s geo-science agency, also warned there was a 50-50 chance of another explosion in the next 24 hours, as there continued to be “steam and mud jetting” at the volcano’s vent.
The tours took place on the privately-owned island even as GeoNet — a website that provides information about seismic hazards — had raised the alert level for the volcano last month due to an increase in volcanic activity.
Some 12 sulphur miners were killed in the volcano’s last deadly eruption in 1914. There was a short-lived eruption in April 2016, as well.
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