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 by Staff Writers Wellington (AFP) Dec 15, 2019
The death toll from New Zealand's White Island volcano eruption rose to 18 Sunday, including two people whose bodies have not been recovered, police said. A land search early Sunday failed to find any sign of the missing pair and divers returned to the sea in the afternoon amid increasing speculation both could be in the water. Deputy police commissioner Mike Clement said there was "every chance" the bodies had been washed into the sea from the stream where they were last seen Monday. He added that searchers were "satisfied that the area we searched near the jetty is clear of the bodies". "The rescue teams are frustrated. We understand completely how frustrating it is for loved ones who want the bodies back," Clement said. Forty-seven people were on the island -- a popular tourist attraction -- when the explosion happened. The death toll now stands at 18 after an Australian victim who had been repatriated to Sydney died in hospital almost a week after the deadly eruption. Another 26 survivors remain in New Zealand and Australian hospitals, of which at least 18 are listed as "critical" and fighting for their lives after the eruption on the desolate island, which is the country's most active volcano. The family of the latest victim have requested his name and age not be released. Police on Sunday named seven victims who have been officially identified including New Zealand tour guide Tipene James Te Rangi Ataahua Maangi, 24. Four were Australians -- Zoe Ella Hosking, 15, her stepfather Gavin Brian Dallow, 53, 51-year-old Anthony James Langford and Karla Michelle Mathews, 32 -- along with Matthew Robert Hollander, 13 and Berend Lawrence Hollander, 16, who were US citizens with Australian permanent residency. Clement said although the land and sea searches had so far been unsuccessful in finding the remaining bodies, police had not given up hope. "There will come a time when we've done everything we can do, when we've done everything that's sensible but we're not there yet... we don't give up easily," he said. Scientists monitoring White Island said there had been no further significant activity since last Monday's eruption but the risk remained with the volcano alert at Level Two, which indicates "moderate to heightened unrest with potential for eruption hazards". A glow was visible from the vent area overnight "which confirms there is a high heat flow present," said Geoff Kilgour, a volcanologist with GNS Science, which monitors seismic and volcanic activity in New Zealand. "This has been confirmed today by an aerial observation this morning that noted an active crater is emitting volcanic gas at a high rate and very high temperature" above 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). The disaster has raised questions about why tourists were allowed on a volcano where experts had recently raised threat levels.
Volcano disaster puts spotlight on NZ adventure tourism The South Pacific nation offers a wealth of adrenaline-fuelled pursuits, from heli-skiiing on snow-capped mountains to ballooning and blackwater rafting through caves. Some, such as bungee-jumping, jet-boating and zorbing -- where you hurl yourself down a hill inside an inflatable ball -- were invented or popularised in a country that prides itself on catering to intrepid visitors. The tourism industry as a whole is among New Zealand's biggest earners, generating about NZ$16.2 billion ($10.7 billion) and attracting 3.8 million international visitors annually. "Adventure tourism is a massive sector in New Zealand. We are promoting ourselves as the adventure capital of the world," professor Michael Lueck, a tourism expert at Auckland University of Technology, told AFP. New Zealand is also renowned for its rugged landscapes, which feature prominently films such as Kiwi director Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings". Day-trips to White Island combined both, taking tourists including cruise ship passengers to a desolately beautiful island off the North Island coast where they could experience the thrill of standing on an active volcano. Instead, at least 16 people are believed to have died and dozens suffered horrific burns when 47 tourists and guides were caught on the island during Monday's eruption. The disaster has raised questions about why tourists were allowed on a volcano where experts had recently raised threat levels, as well as broader issues about the regulation of risky activities in the tourism sector. "There will be bigger questions in relation to this event," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told parliament after the eruption. "These questions must be asked, and they must be answered." - 'Slapdash' or world's best? - The disaster on White Island -- also known as Whakaari -- is not the first mass-fatality accident to affect tourists in New Zealand. In 2015, seven people were killed when a scenic helicopter flight crashed into Fox Glacier. Two years earlier, a hot-air balloon claimed 11 lives and in 2010 nine died when a plane carrying skydivers plunged into a paddock. Briton Chris Coker's son Brad, 24, died in the skydive plane crash and since then he has campaigned from afar for tighter regulations in New Zealand's adventure tourism sector. "In my opinion, the New Zealand authorities... are still slapdash about tourist safety," Coker told news website stuff.co.nz after the White Island eruption. "To run tourists there is insane. I know they signed a waiver and so on, but it's not really taking care of people." Trade body Tourism Industry Aotearoa disputes such assessments, saying operators are "working within a world's best regulatory framework", but could not eliminate risk completely. "Operators put safety first, but adventure activity inherently carries some risk and it's critical that 'adventure' remains in adventure tourism," TIA chief executive Chris Roberts told AFP. "Operators take all practical actions to minimise the risks and the safety culture of individual operators remains the key factor in preventing accidents." Roberts said the issue was not tourism operators, but the alert system they relied on at volcanic destinations such as White Island, which attracts about 17,000 visitors a year. The GeoNet monitoring agency raised White Island's threat level in the week before the eruption but also advised current activity "does not pose a direct hazard to visitors". "The reviews need to look at the science and specifically the guidance provided about volcanic activity, and whether the operating practices followed for the past 30 years need to change," Roberts said. - 'Understand the risks' - Travel companies such as White Island Tours brief customers before setting off and require them to sign a waiver declaring they understand the risk, as well as supplying equipment such as hard-hats and gas masks. However, some relatives of those affected by the eruption have expressed scepticism that their loved ones truly appreciated the potential danger they faced. Options for legal redress are limited under New Zealand's Accident Compensation Commission scheme, which covers victims' medical bills and provides modest compensation but does not allow civil suits for damages. Neither Roberts nor Lueck expected the White Island eruption to hit international arrivals in New Zealand, which have continued to climb despite major earthquakes in 2011 and 2016. The nature of any review arising from White Island remains uncertain, but Lueck said at the very least tourists needed to be better informed about any risks. "Operators and tourism boards should have tourists understand what these risks are, and not brush over quickly signing a waiver," he said. "Only then can tourists make an informed decision and decide whether or not they want to take that particular risk."
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