‘It’s a no-brainer’: Desperate attempts to recover the bodies of eight people believed to have died during White Island volcano eruption would needlessly put more lives at risk, expert says
- Experts claim the mammoth rescue operation would put other lives in danger
- Despite warnings of volcanic activity, visitors were still allowed to tour the site
- Six are confirmed to have died in the natural disaster, with 8 people missing
Efforts to recover the bodies left on White Island after the volcano suddenly erupted would put more lives at risk, according to an expert.
Monash University emeritus professor Ray Cas criticised White Island Tours for taking people to visit the volcano off the coast of Whakatane in New Zealand, saying it was a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.
Mr Cas said White Island has a ‘50/50’ chance of exploding again, as activity in the crater increased on Wednesday. About eight bodies are believed to remain on White Island.
The aggressive volcanic eruption on White Island, New Zealand, has claimed the lives of six people
‘[Going back to White Island] poses a significant danger to those involved,’ Mr Cas told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr Cas said he has been surprised tourists were able to visit the volcano since he first saw it in 2002.
‘It is a very live volcano, and it can do what it did on Monday with very little warning – to me it’s a no brainer [to stay away],’ he said.
Visitors on a tourist ship were metres away from the volcanic eruption on White Island
‘Visitors to White Island get so close to the crater compared to similar volcanoes across the rest of the world – there’s much less chance of being able to get away safely.’
Volcanic tremors at White Island have increased ‘significantly’ and gas pressure is high, according to GeoNet.
A total of 30 people are still being treated in hospital – some with 90 per cent burns . Three have been treated and released. Pictured: A boat saves survivors
A drone travelled over the top of White Island on Wednesday to monitor toxic activity below, and police were working with scientists before deciding whether or not to begin the recovery effort.
Whakatane mayor Judy Turner said locals desperately wanted the bodies of those who died to be brought back to the mainland.
White Island, off the coast of Whakatane in New Zealand, erupted for the first time in almost 20 years on Monday.
About 50 people, many of them from visiting cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, were on the island when the volcano sent ‘supersonic’ fumes and ash soaring about 4km into the sky. The explosion has left 30 people recovering in hospital, some from severe burns on up to 90 per cent of their bodies.
‘White Island is in a constant state of unrest and to allow tourists to walk right to the edge of a very active volcano time and time again is incredibly dangerous,’ Mr Cas said.
‘It has a very active geothermal system with many steaming gas vents and varying numbers of hot water-filled crater lakes in the floor of an ampitheatre-shaped large crater.’
The tragedy is being investigated by New Zealand police on behalf of the Coroner.
Tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman was among the six who died in the natural disaster
The police had announced on Tuesday that they would be launching a criminal investigation into White Island Tours but have since said that was a mistake.
New Zealand Police Minister Stuart Nash said on Wednesday that he had not ruled out a criminal investigation into White Island Tours.
Pictured: Richard Elzer and Karla Matthews of Coffs Harbour, NSW, are among the missing
Pictured: Julie Richards and her daughter Jessica, from Calamvale in Brisbane, who are reportedly among the missing
Fellow Monash professor Oliver Nebel said White Island was in the Pacific Ocean’s deadly ‘Ring of Fire’ group of volcanoes.
‘The event on Monday appears to be a phreatic eruption. These types have less molten rock involved and more gas or vapour,’ he said.
‘This causes white smoke as opposed to the regular black smoke. The gas that erupted would have been ejected very fast, or supersonically, and is extremely hot and toxic.
‘Because there is little lava involved, however, many of the regular warning systems that work on other, larger volcanoes may not have been triggered.’
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a press conference giving a briefing on the tragedy