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New Zealand White Island volcano erupted, 5 dead


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Police in New Zealand have said they do not expect to find any more survivors from a volcanic eruption on White Island that killed at least five people and injured up to 20.

“No signs of life have been seen at any point,” police said after rescue helicopters and other aircraft had carried out a number of aerial reconnaissance flights over the island following the eruption on Monday afternoon. “Police believe that anyone who could have been taken from the island alive was rescued at the time of the evacuation.”

Up to two dozen people remain unaccounted for, and officers are “urgently” working to confirm the exact number of those who have died, a police statement said.

Unstable conditions, toxic gases and ash fall prevented rescue teams from searching the island – which lies 30 miles from the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, in the Bay of Plenty – on foot.

The country’s most active cone volcano erupted at 2.11pm on Monday, sending up a huge plume of ash that was visible from the North Island.

Police said about 50 people were on the island at the time, more than 20 of whom were Australian tourists. Twenty-three people have been rescued. All of those rescued had sustained injuries, mostly burns, police said, and seven people who were in a critical condition had been flown to hospitals in Tauranga and Auckland.

Michael Schade, an American tourist, had just returned from the crater to a tour boat with his parents when the volcano erupted. When their boat returned to pick up survivors, some were in shock, and others burned “to different levels of severity”, he said.

“We were all busy the entire time, just trying to stay out of the way of people who knew what they were doing and also just to help out wherever we could,” he said of the return trip.

Passengers handed over jackets and shirts, eye drops and water, and a human chain was formed to refill bottles so the injured could pour it on their burns.

“It was not a particularly big eruption,” he said. “It was almost like a throat-clearing eruption.

“It showed increased activity for the last few weeks, so we raised the alert level.”

A level four alert was issued for the volcano, also known by its Māori name Whakaari, indicating that a “moderate volcanic eruption” was possible, according to the science agency GeoNet. The scale runs from zero to five – a major eruption.

St John Ambulance treated at least 20 people who were injured, with ambulance officers travelling to the island with the coast guard and seven helicopters, which had been dispatched with paramedics on board.

A spokeswoman initially said the service’s medical director would establish a triage unit on the island when he arrived, but this later proved to be impossible.

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I am quite puzzled why the island is still opened to visitors when the alert level for a volcano eruption has been raised to level 4 (out of max 5)? I am not trying to point finger at anyone, but such tragic could have been prevented with the alert system in place... Hope this incident is the first and last for the island.

May the deceased RIP.:a-rip:

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1 hour ago, Carbon82 said:

I am quite puzzled why the island is still opened to visitors when the alert level for a volcano eruption has been raised to level 4 (out of max 5)? I am not trying to point finger at anyone, but such tragic could have been prevented with the alert system in place... Hope this incident is the first and last for the island.

May the deceased RIP.:a-rip:

Singapore not far off

flood until underwear gets wet still just ponding

 

lucky i wore swimtrunks that day

otherwise no underwear left to use the following day to work

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8 hours ago, Carbon82 said:

I am quite puzzled why the island is still opened to visitors when the alert level for a volcano eruption has been raised to level 4 (out of max 5)? I am not trying to point finger at anyone, but such tragic could have been prevented with the alert system in place... Hope this incident is the first and last for the island.

May the deceased RIP.:a-rip:

That was the exact same thought I had in mind. With a level 4 warning and plus the fact it was an island volcano (nowhere to escape to), sad to say this tragedy could have been avoided. But we have the benefit of hindsight after all.

Rest in peace to those who've lost their lives. 

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Nothing to do with govt.

If it's a volcano island and you know it is erupting and still wanna go, then you take personal responsibility.

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9 hours ago, Carbon82 said:

I am quite puzzled why the island is still opened to visitors when the alert level for a volcano eruption has been raised to level 4 (out of max 5)? I am not trying to point finger at anyone, but such tragic could have been prevented with the alert system in place... Hope this incident is the first and last for the island.

May the deceased RIP.:a-rip:

The tourist dollar is too much to ignore. So for these tour agencies, its money before safety. All safety considerations are out the window. After all NZ depends also on tourism to survive.

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10 hours ago, Carbon82 said:

I am quite puzzled why the island is still opened to visitors when the alert level for a volcano eruption has been raised to level 4 (out of max 5)? I am not trying to point finger at anyone, but such tragic could have been prevented with the alert system in place... Hope this incident is the first and last for the island.

May the deceased RIP.:a-rip:

Becos amdk is brave ppl

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