Aussies may not be found
TWO Australians injured in the White Island eruption have been identified in hospitals as authorities confirmed the nine tourists listed as missing — including seven Aussies — might never be found.
Seismic activity on the island has increased since Monday, when it erupted, killing six. Last night an RAAF aircraft was expected to land in Wellington to begin the repatriation of injured Australians to relieve local burns units.
TWO Australians injured in the White Island eruption have been identified in hospitals as authorities yesterday confirmed the nine tourists listed as missing might never be found.
Seismic activity on the island, known locally as Whakaari, has significantly increased since Monday, when it erupted killing six travellers, injuring more than 30 and leaving nine others — seven Australians and two New Zealanders — listed as missing presumed dead.
Last night an RAAF aircraft was expected to land in Wellington to begin the repatriation of injured Australians to hospital burns units across the Tasman to help overwhelmed local burns units.
News Corp Australia can reveal authorities that went to the island on Tuesday, and sent drones yesterday, have been able to pinpoint only six bodies buried under ash.
The location of two others is not known, but sources close to the “war room” of multiple agencies operating out of a staff cafeteria in the regional Whakatane council building say they would not have survived the initial eruption.
Many tried to escape the blast by entering the water.
They also said it was unlikely any bodies will be recovered in the near future with the volatility of the island, including multiple tremors, now extreme.
“Yesterday there was a high risk of an eruption. Today there is an even higher risk of an eruption, and the parameters are worsening at the moment,” GNS Science volcanic geologist Graham Leonard said yesterday.
Plumes of steam and vented mud could yesterday be seen on the island, 50km off New Zealand’s main North Island, with drones also recording a rise in toxic gas levels.
That news came as authorities confirmed:
THE first of the dead to be identified was Brisbane mother Julie Richards, 47, her daughter Jessica, 20, and Adelaide lawyer Gavin Dallow, with police confirming his 15year-old stepdaughter Zoe Hosking is missing presumed dead, while mum Lisa Dallow remained in critical condition in hospital;
SYDNEY teenager Jesse Langford, 19, was identified as one of those in hospital but the whereabouts of his parents and sister remain unknown; PLANS were being finalised to repatriate injured Australians to Australian hospital burns units with an RAAF aircraft to carry the patients from Wellington arriving last night; MANUKAU District Health Board chief medical officer Dr Peter Watson said 1.2 million square centimetres of skin for transplant had been ordered from the US, with local surgical teams working 24 hours a day on shift to deal with horrific burns injuries of the eruption victims;
DOCTORS confirmed the acid from the eruption was multiplying the difficulty to deal with burns and many had burnt throats;
OF the 30 patients in seven hospitals, 22 are in critical condition on airway support; AUSTRALIAN police arrived in New Zealand yesterday to help with body retrieval and identification.
NZ Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall meanwhile has declared the eruption a “mass fatality incident” and said it could be “some weeks” before all the deceased were officially identified.
There was speculation last night that moves to retrieve the bodies on the island were under way before a storm front rolled in and seismic activity increased. The warship HMNZS Wellington also was in the region, with a naval helicopter and a military truck arriving at the local airport.