Victims too burnt to speak, says Nash

Police Minister Stuart Nash says agencies are still working on verifying the identity of those injured and those presumed dead after the Whakaari/White Island eruption.

Australian police had sent a victim identification team to work with New Zealand police.

There were some in hospital who were still unidentified, Nash said. ‘‘There are still some very, very seriously injured people in hospital. We are working very closely with a number of agencies to ensure we get this identification right.

‘‘There are a number of people in hospital who cannot communicate because they have significant burns not only to skin but to internal organs. Nine are still in serious condition, critical condition, they cannot speak ... or communicate.’’

The police announcement of a criminal investigation into the White Island deaths was a ‘‘slip of the tongue’’, Nash said.

Police backtracked on their announcement of a criminal inquiry into the deaths of tourists in the eruption and said their investigation was on behalf of the coroner and would be carried out in parallel with WorkSafe New Zealand’s investigation.

Nash accepted the announcement might have caused some alarm but reiterated there was no criminal inquiry at this stage.

Officers were gathering information and would then make a decision on where the inquiry headed, he said.

‘‘It was a slip of the tongue. When there have been deaths, multiple deaths, of course there is going to be an inquiry take place. Police just do this as a matter of course.

‘‘Whenever there has been serious injury, let alone multiple fatalities, then we undertake these inquiries.

‘‘Who knows what will come out of this.

‘‘If in fact it does morph into a criminal inquiry, we will let people know.’’ – RNZ