Specialist teams hope to recover last 2 volcano victims
WHAKATANE, New Zealand — Specialist teams were due to return to New Zealand’s volcanic White Island today to resume a land search for the bodies of two victims of an eruption which has now claimed 15 lives.
Two four-person teams wearing protective clothing and using breathing apparatuses were to land on the island by helicopter early morning in the hope of finding the bodies which have not been located since the island erupted Dec. 9.
“They will be wearing the same protective clothing as the eight New Zealand Defence Force personnel who were on the island on Friday,” Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said. “However, their breathing apparatus will be different, meaning they will only be able to stay on the island for up to 75 minutes.
“We remain committed to finishing the task at hand and returning the two remaining bodies to their loved ones,” he added.
While scientists said the possibility of a second eruption appeared to have receded, White Island remains “highly volatile.”
Police said the toll from the eruption has risen to 15 with the death in hospital on Saturday night of a severely burned victim.
For the first time police have released the name of one of the dead.
She was Krystal Browitt, a veterinary nursing student from Melbourne, Australia who turned 21 on Nov. 29.
BOSTON, Ga. — A man apparently felt so bad about breaking the law that he called police three times to confess, according to police in Georgia.
Lt. Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office told the Thomasville Times-Enterprise that a man called at 5 a.m. Friday to say he had stolen a car in Thomasville and was about 12 miles away in the smaller town of Boston.
A Boston police officer went looking for the Chevrolet Impala and 29-yearold Quent Rashed Lankford, but could find neither. Lankford called back again, and finally called a third time to say he had broken into a convenience store and was drinking beer.
“He wanted to confess and turn himself in,” Watkins said. “He called three times.”
That was enough for Boston police to track down and arrest Lankford. The car was later found in Thomasville. Lankford was charged with second-degree burglary, and theft charges are pending. He’s jailed awaiting a bail hearing. It’s unclear if Lankford has a lawyer.
NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana is suing the state of California over its decision to ban the import and sale of alligator products, saying the ban will hurt an important Louisiana industry and ultimately could hurt the state’s wetlands.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Louisiana said the economy surrounding alligators has played a key role in bringing back the American alligator population and is an important factor in protecting wetlands and other species besides alligators that depend on the wetlands.