Heavy human toll in New Zealand after volcano eruption

The balance sheet further increased, Sunday, December 15. The death of an Australian victim after the eruption of the White Island volcano in New Zealand brings the death toll from this natural disaster to 18.

In total, 47 people were on the island at the time of the eruption, in the afternoon of December 9, of the volcano of White Island (or Whakaari in Maori). Most of them were tourists from Australia, the United States, Great Britain, China, Germany, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Whakaari / White Island is erupting. More information soon. pic.twitter.com/B5m4BSa4bt

Twenty-six people are still hospitalized in New Zealand and Australia, many of them in a condition described by doctors as "critical".

Two remains to be found

The remains of six people who died were recovered Friday by elite New Zealand soldiers during a risky operation. However, research conducted on Sunday did not identify any sign of the bodies of the last two missing persons, counted in the death toll of 18.

"The research team is disappointed. We fully understand how disappointing it can also be for loved ones who want to recover the bodies," said Assistant Police Commissioner Mike Clement. He added that the two bodies were probably in the water.

Mike Clement said police are not giving up hope of finding the bodies of the two missing. "There will come a time when we will have done everything we can, but we are not there yet," he said. "We don't give up easily."

Gas emissions above 200 ° C

Scientists believe that the activity of the volcano is no longer as important as last Monday, but that the risk of eruption remains.

A glow was still visible at night at the level of the volcanic chimney, "which confirms the presence of an important thermal flux", specified Geoff Kilgour, volcanologist within GNS Science, which monitors volcanic and seismic activity in the archipelago.

"This was confirmed by aerial observations this morning which made it possible to locate an active crater emitting volcanic gases in large quantities and at a very high temperature" above 200 ° C.

The alert level of the volcano had been raised recently, which raises the question of why tourist visits remained authorized on White Island.

With AFP

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