UPDATED: At least five victims after volcano erupts in New Zealand
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A volcano has erupted in New Zealand with 100 people in the vicinity – leaving some unaccounted for and at least five persons havedied.
Police said there are likely to be other fatalities as they try to rescue up to 50 people from White Island, which is uninhabited but frequented by tourists. They earlier confirmed that 23 people had so far been rescued, with most transferred to hospital with burns.
Tourists were seen walking inside the rim of the White Island crater just moments before the eruption.
The local mayor told New Zealand media she feared there had been injuries.
A handout photo made available by the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences shows a plume of ash rising from the Whakaari or White Island volcano on North Island, New Zealand, 09 December 2019. EPA-EFE/NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR SCIENCES
Many of the people visiting White Island today are understood to be from the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, which was berthed at the Port of Tauranga this morning.
Port company chief executive Mark Cairns says he understands the majority of those injured in the eruption are from the ship, the world’s largest cruise vessel
White Island, or Whakaari, is an island volcano off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island – and is one New Zealand’s most active volcanoes.
