Tourists missing after deadly New Zealand volcano eruption

One person was reported dead and several others injured, with many more missing, after a volcano erupted on Monday while dozens of cruise ship passengers were exploring a small, uninhabited New Zealand island.

A plume of ash was seen towering over 10,000 feet in the air above White Island, also known by the indigenous Maori name Whakaari.

"I can confirm there is one fatality" said Deputy Police Commissioner John Tims. "There is a number still remaining on the island who are currently unaccounted for," he added, "at this stage, it is too dangerous for police and rescue services to go to the island."

Specific details of the deceased and injured were not provided, however former Whakatane mayor Tony Bonne said a "young, energetic man lost his life," reported the New Zealand Herald.

New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, confirmed some of those caught up in the blast were foreigners.

"We know that there were a number of tourists on or around the island at the time, both New Zealanders and visitors from overseas."



Australia's Nine News reported 24 Australian citizens were on White Island when it erupted.

Cruise ship passengers

It was initially believed there were about 100 people on or near the island at the time of the eruption, however a police statement said they now believed there were fewer than 50.

"Twenty-three people have been rescued from the island including the one who died, leaving up to possibly 27 people currently on White Island," Auckland-based journalist Carissa Paramita told DW.

Out of the 23 people rescued, most of them are suffering from burn injuries, she added.

Many of the people visiting the island at the time of the eruption were understood to be from the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas. The captain made an announcement to passengers that a group of guests and one crew member were on the island at the time of the eruption, reported the New Zealand Herald.

Footage posted on social media showed ash billowing into the air above the island. "My family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it," said witness Michael Schade.

"I'm not sure if these people were on the island or near it, but there was definitely one group out there and they definitely needed medical care," said Judy Turner, the mayor of the coastal town of Whakatane, near White Island.

'Terrible event'

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark sent condolences to the family of the deceased. "Having walked to the crater on the island, I can well imagine the terror of what happened," she posted on Twitter.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered emergency support to New Zealand authorities after the "terrible event" following reports that Australians were caught up in the blast.

New Zealand's emergency management ministry advised people living near the affected area should consider staying indoors with windows and doors closed to limit the entry of volcanic ash. It said in a statement that the effects of the volcano can spread "many kilometres."

Ovation of the Seas is a 16-deck cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises. It can accommodate about 5,000 passengers and has a crew of 1,500. It is docked at Tauranga on a cruise that began last week in Sydney.

White Island sits about 50 kilometers (30 miles) offshore from mainland New Zealand, and GeoNet says it is New Zealand's most active cone volcano, with about 70% of the volcano under the sea.

Twelve people were killed on the island in 1914 when it was being mined for sulphur. Part of a crater wall collapsed and a landslide destroyed the miners' village and the mine itself.