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New Zealand volcano: one dead and 'likely to be more' after eruption on White Island – live | |
(32 minutes later) | |
At least one person has died after volcano erupted suddenly while dozens of tourists were on the island. Follow the latest updates | |
A still from one of the videos of the island shows a helicopter on its side. | |
Former prime minister Helen Clark has shared her condolences. | |
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs says it is making “urgent enquiries” to find out if any Australians were affected by the eruption. However, it does not have any information to share at present. | |
Breaking from Eleanor Ainge Roy: | |
Kevin O’Sullivan, the chief executive officer of the New Zealand Cruise Association confirmed that a tour party of 30 to 38 people from cruise ship Ovation of the Seas were on a tour of White Island today, and had not returned. | |
He said the passengers names and nationalities were now being handed to police, and the Ovation of the Seas would stay docked in Tauranga at least overnight. | |
“I know the cruise ship will be able to compile a list of the tour party and they will be handing that to New Zealand police, and the police will then make a statement on the nationalities,” he said. | |
“Our hope of course is they will be recovered unharmed and returned back to the ship.” | |
Earlier, the operations director for St John Ambulance told Radio NZ that seven people – out of those taken off the island – were critically injured. | |
Norma Lane confirmed the figures to the Checkpoint program. | |
In that press conference, deputy commissioner Tims said that some of the tourists on the island were from cruise ship Ovation of the Seas. | |
“From my understanding, some of the tourists are from a cruise ship so we should have a list of people that left the cruise ship and potentially are on the island. There are ways for us to have that list confirmed.” | |
He was then asked if all the people on the island were from the cruise ship. He says: “We don’t believe so”. | |
Last question to Ardern and the police. A reporter asks if “27 people could be dead”. | |
“We don’t have a full clarity at this point,” Ardern says. “You understand why we are loath to get into speculation”. | |
Dr Ken Glairdhill from GNS Science is now speaking about the eruption. | |
“It was not a particularly big eruption,” he says. “It was almost like a throat-clearing eruption.” | |
He says it is unlikely, but possible, there could be secondary eruptions. | |
“It showed increased activity for the lsat few weeks, so we raised the alert level. But it looks like mostly, there will be an eruption like this, then a moment of quiescence. | |
“But we can’t be certain there wont be another eruption in the next 24 hours.” | |
Tims says it is still too dangerous for police and rescue services to go onto the island – so they are still unclear how many people remain on the island. | |
23 people have been taken from the island. There were fewer than 50 people on the island at the time of the eruption. | |
“Some of these people have been transported to shore, however there is a number still remaining on the island who are currently unaccounted for,” Tims said. | |
“We are working to confirm the numbers involved. At this stage, it is too dangerous for police and rescue services to go to the island. However, we continue to assess the conditions which would allow us togo onto the island. | |
“The island is currently covered in ash and volcanic material. We are taking expert advice with regards to the safety of any rescue attempt.” | |
Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims has confirmed that one person has died. | Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims has confirmed that one person has died. |
“And based on information we have, there are likely to be more,” he adds. | “And based on information we have, there are likely to be more,” he adds. |
Sarah Stewart-Black, the director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, is speaking now. | Sarah Stewart-Black, the director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, is speaking now. |
“We do not expect this event you have any significant impact for the people on the north island at this time. If the situation changes we will communicate this. | “We do not expect this event you have any significant impact for the people on the north island at this time. If the situation changes we will communicate this. |
“Ashfall appears to be confined to the island and they do not expect more than a minor amount of ash to reach East Cape in the coming hours.” | “Ashfall appears to be confined to the island and they do not expect more than a minor amount of ash to reach East Cape in the coming hours.” |