Whakaari/White Island: Brother of missing tour guide says 'time was of the essence'
Wednesday, 18 December 2019
The brother of the Kiwi tour guide who remains missing on Whakaari/White Island believes he might have been found if crews reached the island sooner.
Hayden Marshall-Inman's body is believed to be in the water around the island, more than a week after the fatal eruption.
His brother Mark Inman said it was 'tough' waiting for closure.
Some 47 people were on the island when the volcano erupted, and 18 are dead. Two bodies remain missing - that of Marshall-Inman, and that of Australian teenager Winona Langford.
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'You've got to stay strong and stay positive and keep hoping one day he'll come home,' Inman told Newshub. 'We've just got to wait - it's a waiting game.'
Three helicopter pilots who helped recover survivors from the island immediately after the eruption said they had seen Marshall-Inman.
Tom Storey said he had recognised his friend, who was 'in a pretty bad way' and moved his body to a rise. He wanted to go back, but was instructed not to.
Inman also asked for permission to mount a personal recovery mission, but was refused by the government.
Inman thinks his brother's body was washed out to sea before rescue crews arrived, four days later.
'I still believe time was of the essence and things could have moved a bit quicker,' Inman told Newshub.