Volcano erupts while tourists visit - 16th December 2019

Tourists were visiting Whakaari (White Island) when it erupted on Tuesday 9th December and killed 16 people.

Rescuers saved 23 tourists from New Zealand's most active volcano, but eight were still missing. The rescue was very dangerous because of the ash falling from the eruption.

Two of the survivors have already died and 20 are in intensive care.

Whakaari is a private island, which 10,000 people visit every year. On 3 December, New Zealand's geological hazard monitoring website, GeoNet, gave a warning. It said the volcano "was more likely than normal" to erupt but that there was "no direct hazard to visitors." The last eruption was in 2016 but no one was injured.

The families of the missing 8 tourists desperately wanted their bodies to be rescued. However, there was a 50-60% possibility of another eruption. The local mayor spoke of "a growing sense of desperation" to recover the bodies.

Eight specialist soldiers successfully rescued the bodies on Friday morning.

Whakaari is in the Bay of Plenty on the North Island. It is an important spiritual site for the Ngati Awa tribe. They used their knowledge and skills to help recover the bodies. Maoris protected the area with a 'rahui' until the bodies were recovered.

The survivors have suffered very serious burns. They require multiple operations. Specialist burns doctors say the patients require 120 square metres of replacement skin.