It was on Monday that a volcano on the island of White Island off the coast of New Zealand suddenly erupted. The same night, the National Emergency Coordinator's Deputy Chief John Tim confirmed during a press conference that five people were dead, and that the death toll was expected to rise. More than twenty people are cared for in hospitals, and nine people are missing after the outbreak.

Many tourists on site

The two people now confirmed dead were taken care of in Auckland and Hamilton hospitals. The island is a popular tourist destination and at the time of the outbreak, nearly 50 people were on the island. Despite the fact that there have been raised warning levels for several weeks, the excursions to the island continued.

Search efforts for the missing persons have been postponed until further notice of signs of renewed seismic activity on the island.

"I would say that everything indicates that no one has survived on the island," Police Chief John Tims said at a press conference earlier this week, according to TT.

Skin donations from abroad

A large proportion of the victims who are cared for after the outbreak have burns of between 30 and 70 percent of the body. The country's own burn units are working full time and authorities have placed an order for about 1.2 million square inches of donated skin from the US and Australia, according to CNN.