Wellington - The bodies of six people who died when a volcano
erupted on New Zealand's White Island earlier this week have been
recovered while two are still missing, police said Friday morning.
"The operation went to plan," Police Commissioner Mike Bush said in
Whakatane. "But it's not over yet.
"We do believe that at least one of them is in the water and the
other one we are unsure, so that only leaves two possibilities."
Police would continue with aerial searches of the island on Friday
afternoon.
New Zealand Defence Force Colonel Rian McKinstry told media a team of
six men and two women spent four hours on the island.
"We cannot downplay the risk involved in this operation," he said.
The bodies were set to be flown to Auckland to be formally
identified.
Eight others tourists and guides who where on a sightseeing tour at
New Zealand's most active volcano when it erupted on Monday were
confirmed dead earlier this week.
Mark Inman, right, brother of volcano victim Hayden Marshall-Inman, walks with family members after arriving back to the Whakatane wharf following a blessing at sea ahead of the recovery operation off the coast of Whakatane. Picture: Mark Baker/AP
The Ministry of Health said there were 17 victims still receiving
treatment at four hospitals in New Zealand.
Thirteen Australian patients were taken to burns units in Sydney and
Melbourne.
National geological hazard monitoring system Geonet showed the status
of the volcano remained highly volatile.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday that questions need to
be asked after the devastating tragedy. Police and New Zealand's
workplace health and safety regulator Worksafe launched separate
investigations into the disaster.
Families of victims of the White Island eruption walk into a nearby marae following a blessing at sea ahead of the recovery operation off the coast of Whakatane. Picture: Mark Baker/AP
White Island sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area known for
frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and is the emergent peak
of a large submarine volcano that lies 48 kilometres offshore from
Whakatane on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.
Tourists have been visiting the privately owned island that is served
by several operators for more than 30 years.
While seismic unrest was frequent, this was the first deadly eruption
since a mudflow in the wake of a volcanic breakout killed 10 sulphur
miners in 1914.