NASH BACKS DECISION TO WAIT
Police Minister Stuart Nash has defended police for not going to Whakaari/White Island, saying he was confident they were doing all they could.
Police were still waiting on very clear scientific and technical advice before they can go to the island to recover victims and it was ‘‘very unfair’’ to refer to the situation as another Pike River, he said.
Forty-seven people were on the volcanic island when it erupted at 2.11pm on Monday. Five people have been confirmed dead, while 31 were still in hospital and three had been discharged. The remaining eight people on the island are still unaccounted for.
Police have been criticised for not going to the island, which resulted in independent operators undertaking rescue efforts.
The brother of a Whakata¯ne man killed on the island said the family have had no communication with authorities around recovering the bodies.
‘‘It smells like Pike River all over again,’’ said the brother of Hayden Marshall-Inman, where responders have been criticised for not yet recovering the bodies.
‘‘[It’s] people from Wellington making decisions for people that go on the island daily who know the island inside out,’’ said the man, who asked not to be named.
On Monday night, the island was covered with ash and had been ruled a no-fly zone, unsafe for rescuers to approach.
Police say advice from GeoNet suggests the island is too unsafe to go on to as it could erupt again.
A navy vessel was assessing the area by drone to determine when recovery teams could land.
‘‘The physical environment is unsafe for us to return to the island,’’ police national operation commander Deputy Commissioner John Tims said.
Nash said it was an extremely dangerous, volatile situation.
‘‘They had no idea what they were dealing with and they are [still] waiting on the right scientific and technical information before they can even think about going on to the island.’’
It was put to him that, if not for the independent operators, there would be more people trapped on the island.
This was only hypothetical, he said.
‘‘The independent operators did a fantastic job under very dangerous circumstances.
‘‘I take my hat off to them – true heroes,’’ he replied.
The police Eagle helicopter did fly over the island on Monday night and saw no signs of life ‘‘whatsoever’’, he said.
Rescue helicopters and New Zealand Defence Force aircraft had also undertaken multiple reconnaissance flights over the island since the eruption.