Whakaari/White Island: Sixth person in hospital dies after volcanic eruption

Monday, 9 December 2019

Footage of the White Island eruption filmed by a tourist who was leaving just as disaster struck.

A sixth person has died after the eruption of Whakaari/White Island on Monday afternoon.

Five people had already been confirmed as dead, with another eight missing and believed to be dead.

The sixth confirmed death was a person who was earlier being treated at Middlemore Hospital.

Many of the other 30 people injured have life-threatening burns and lung damage. Some are on ventilators and may need skin grafts.

A Whakatāne man brings down a bunch of flowers to the cordon where the injured arrived after White Island erupted.

* White Island tourist captures dramatic footage of volcano eruption

* Whakaari: This is the family that privately owns White Island

* Whakaari/White Island: 'Fantastic team work' in treating severely injured patients**

Whakaari/White Island, at 6.20am on Tuesday.

Counties Manukau DHB chief medical officer Dr Pete Watson earlier said 25 of the injured were in regional burns units in Christchurch, Hutt Valley, Waikato and Middlemore hospitals on Tuesday afternoon.

Six patients were being treated in Auckland and Tauranga and would be transferred to a burns unit when there was capacity. 'All of our burns units are now full to capacity,' he said.

Of the injured, 27 had sustained burns to more than 30 per cent of their body.

'Many have inhalation burns that require airway support,' Watson said. The injured patients were aged 13 to 72, and most were visitors to New Zealand.

'It's important not to underestimate the gravity of the injuries suffered, the huge response being mounted by our hospitals and the time it will take for some patients to fully recover.'

Forty-seven people were on the Bay of Plenty volcano at the time of the eruption.

On Tuesday evening, police said the bodies of the five people initially confirmed dead were being taken to Auckland, with post-mortems to be carried out on Wednesday.

A complex disaster victim identification process was under way. 'The nature of the injuries that people have suffered is severe and means identifying them is a complex matter.' police said.

Toxic gases and small eruptions are confronting emergency services planning the recovery of the eight missing visitors.

Police planned to use drones to measure gas over the island, but windy conditions meant they could not be deployed on Tuesday afternoon.

Data from the drones would help decide the next steps at the island. 'We understand people's desire to recover their loved ones and we are working around the clock to get onto the island so we can recover them as soon as possible,' police said.

Government and public buildings were flying the New Zealand flag at half-mast as a mark of mourning and respect.

University of Waikato student Lillani Hopkins, 22, and her father Geoff Hopkins, a pastor at Arise Church in Hamilton, were on a boat that had just left White Island when the volcano erupted.

An ash plume about 3650 metres above the volcano was visible from the mainland.

Jacinda Ardern at the Whakatāne fire station after talking to first responders.

Passengers were told to get below deck while the boat headed back to shore to help survivors.

Seconds later, ash-covered people began running into the sea and taking shelter in rocks on the shore as the ash enveloped the island.

'[The crew] started to pull people out of the water but we were all told to stay inside,' Lillani said. Then a crew member asked for help. 'The crew were in shock. They said 'we've got multiple burn victims and we need help'.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern briefs the media Tuesday morning following the eruption of White Island, killing at least 5.

'I've never seen burns like it. It was horrific. The people just kept coming and coming.'

Exposed parts of people's bodies - such as their faces and feet - were covered in raw-looking burns and clay-like ash. Underneath clothes, many people were scorched and blistered.

'We had to clean people. People's tongues were burnt, we had to clear their airways and their eyes.'

Many victims - mostly overseas visitors - drifted in and out of consciousness, crying.

Some of the people involved were from the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship, which stayed at the P ort of Tauranga on Tuesday but was due to sail for Wellington on Wednesday morning.

Whakaari/White Island as seen from the air during and eruption which occurred as a tour party was visiting the volcanic island.

'A team will remain on site in Tauranga and all hospital locations to ensure those affected by Monday's incident are taken care of in terms of medical help, counselling, accommodations, and transport,' a spokesperson for cruise company Royal Caribbean International said.

White Island Tours chairman Paul Quinn told TVNZ's Breakfast two of his staff were among the missing.

Whakatāne man and White Island tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman was among those killed in the eruption. His brother confirmed his death on Facebook.

Kristine And Anthony Langford, and son Jesse, 19.

The whānau of tour guide Tipene Maangi, 23, are praying for his return. He has only been working for White Island Tours for a few months.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 'up to three' of the five people confirmed dead may be Australian. An Australian family-of-four is among the missing.

Anthony Langford, 51, and Kristine Langford, their son, Jesse, 19, and daughter Winona, 17, from Sydney, were believed to have been on the island at the time of the eruption and had been marked as missing on the Family Links website.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media in Whakatāne one day after White Island erupted.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that while recovery operations were the first priority, larger questions about the event would have to be answered.

'The scale of this tragedy is devastating.' The families of the victims would be 'forever linked to our nation', Ardern said.

Speaking of the many Australians involved, she said: 'Our family in Australia has been heavily impacted. We feel the pull of our bond acutely at this time.'

Police said the 47 people who were on the island when it erupted were from seven countries - 24 from Australia, two from China, four from Germany, one from Malaysia, five from New Zealand, two from the UK and nine from the US.

Tourist Michael Schade, from San Francisco, posted video on Twitter showing a huge plume over the island, while he was on a boat leaving the island.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrived in the Bay of Plenty on Monday night.

Schade and his mother tended to a woman in a critical condition, but the woman 'seemed strong' by the end.

'[The] boat ride home tending to people our boat rescued was indescribable.'

Schade was at the main crater's edge just 30 minutes before the eruption, standing over the edge in a video, looking down into the depths of the volcano.

Jacinda Ardern met with police and civil defence at Whakatāne District Council in Monday night.

WorkSafe has opened a health and safety investigation into the harm and loss of life caused by the eruption. It would consider all the relevant work health and safety issues, it said.

Police are investigating on behalf of the coroner. They also corrected an earlier statement that a criminal investigation had been launched, saying it was too early to say whether that would happen.

The volcanic plume is seen spewing from the volcano in the moments after the eruption.

Whakaari/White Island is one of several volcanoes in New Zealand that can produce sudden explosive eruptions at any time, and with little warning.

GeoNet vulcanologist Brad Scott said the eruption wasn't completely unexpected.

'Volcanic unrest has been occurring at White Island for several weeks now, so it's not a total surprise that this has led to a total eruption and we have alluded to this possibility for some time,' he said.

Men mining for sulphur on Whakaari/White Island in 1927-29.

A week ago, GeoNet said the volcano could have been entering a period when eruptive activity was higher than normal.

Scott said it was up to tour operators to monitor the situation and decide whether to continue operating.

The privately-owned island is New Zealand's most active volcano. It last erupted in 2016.

People are only allowed to land on Whakaari/White Island as part of a tour.

Tour companies provide visitors with hard hats and gas masks to protect against the sulphurous steam and fully-enclosed shoes are compulsory.

Typical visits include a one-hour tour of the inner crater, with its bright-green lake, bubbling pits of mud and roaring steam vents.

The island is marketed as one of the world's most accessible, active marine volcanoes, making it a 'cornerstone tourism attraction' for Whakatāne.

Of the more than 20,000 people who visit the volcano each year, 80 per cent are international visitors, according to the Whakatāne District Council.

The island is 48km offshore from Bay of Plenty, with 70 per cent of the volcano under the sea. It is our most active cone volcano, built up by continuous volcanic activity during the past 150,000 years.

Men once lived and worked on the island. From the 1880s, they mined the sulphur, for many uses from gunpowder to fertiliser.

On September 21, 1914, a lahar in the middle of the night swept away the mine buildings in the crater and the 11 men asleep in their beds.

WHERE TO GET INFORMATION

Police ask that anyone who wishes to submit information about loved ones who might have been visiting Whakaari/White Island during the eruption should call police on 105.

Anyone calling from overseas can call +64 9105 105, or use the online form.