Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
New Zealand’s accident compensation scheme covers cost of treatment for all injuries and bars victims from taking legal action against operators
In New Zealand, where bodies still lie on a volcano after Monday’s eruption and survivors fill hospital burns units across the country to capacity, questions are mounting about who exactly was responsible for the safety of tourists on Whakaari or White Island, and, if failings are found, who will be held accountable.
Questions are also being asked about the wisdom of allowing tourists on to the island while it was assigned a volcanic alert level of two out of five, signalling volcanic unrest – a practice that has happened for years.
Deputy commissioner says police have been facing increasing pressure from victims’ families to recover bodies from White Island
The New Zealand military will deploy to White Island at first light in an attempt to bring eight bodies home to their desperate families – despite a serious risk of the volcano erupting again.
Eight specialist military personnel will land on the island on Friday morning local time (Thursday evening UK) in an operation that is expected to last several hours, and involves multiple risk factors including the Island’s heightened seismic activity, the weather, and conditions on the ground.
Two more people have died from injuries sustained during the eruption on White Island
Two more people have died from injuries sustained during the eruption of New Zealand’s White Island volcano, bringing the confirmed death toll from the disaster to eight.
Country’s health authorities said to have ordered 1.2m sq cm of skin to treat burn injuries
Surgeons are working around the clock to help tourists who suffered horrendous burn injuries in the eruption of the New Zealand’s White Island volcano, health experts have said.
New Zealand health authorities have reportedly ordered 1.2 million sq cm of skin from the US in order to treat those injured: 27 of whom had burns to more than 30% of their body, with some having burns to 90-95% of their body. For context, experts say the palm of a hand is about 1.5% of the area of the body.
Sarah Stuart-Black at New Zealand's civil defence ministry says recovering the bodies of those killed on Whakaari/White Island is 'an absolute imperative'. John Tims of New Zealand police says the resources are standing by to go back to the island 'as soon as we are confident there are no risks'. Conditions on New Zealand’s Whakaari/White Island have worsened, hampering the retrieval of those killed in Monday's volcanic explosion. Volcanologist Graham Leonard says volcanic activity has increased at the site and that there is a risk of another eruption like Monday’s. Leonard also says it would be challenging for rescuers to breath, see or walk on the island given the current activity.
A commercial helicopter pilot who led a team that rescued 12 victims from the White Island volcano eruption has told how he believed he was their last hope of survival.
“We found people dead, dying and alive but in various states of unconsciousness,” said Mark Law, a tour company boss who flew to the volcano and spent an hour on the ground even as a pillar of ash towered above them.
The families of those missing after the White Island eruption in New Zealand say they are 'standing together' as they wait for information about their loved ones. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, said the scale of the disaster was 'devastating' and that reconnaissance flights had found no sign of life on the island. Police have launched an inquiry into the eruption after at least six people died and many more were injured
White Island’s eruption is a reminder that we are not nature’s master, but at its whim
At 2.11pm yesterday, as the Whakaari eruption was happening, I was out mowing my lawns. From my home at Te Kaha, a tiny settlement on the North Island’s east coast, you can make out the volcano’s sunken crater. The 300-metre dust cliffs frame the northern and southern edges, and in the centre is an east-facing pit where ancient birders and old sulphur miners once did their work.
On Monday the only workers and visitors on island were tour operators and tourists, several whom never made it back from yesterday’s destruction.
Five people have been confirmed dead, 31 remain in hospital with injuries and eight are still missing after sudden volcanic eruptions on Whakaari/White Island off the east coast of New Zealand.
The island is a tourist destination and 47 people were on it when it erupted on Monday afternoon. Three of those rescued have now been discharged from hospital.
Jacinda Ardern confirms that New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, the US, Britain, China and Malaysia are among missing on White Island/Whakaari. Follow rolling updates
Scott Morrison said it is “still too early to tell” the full extent of injuries of the 13 Australians in hospital around New Zealand but that “a number of them are in critical conditions” including those with “quite severe burns”.
Marise Payne said the Australians “are located in multiple hospitals around New Zealand, in Waikato, in Christchurch, in Middlemore in Auckland, in Tauranga and in Hart Valley”.
The challenge for the next few days is supporting those Australians who are so badly injured in hospitals across New Zealand, supporting their families and supporting the families of those who remain unaccounted for. We will be working closely with New Zealand authorities and with Royal Caribbean to provide any support that we can, and we will ensure that all assistance is provided to them and to their families.”
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and foreign minister Marise Payne have given an update on the 24 Australians believed to be on White Island during the eruption.
Morrison said:
Of the 24 ones, we have been able to ascertain overnight and this morning that 13 of those Australians are hospitalised across multiple hospitals in New Zealand. There are 11 Australians that are still unaccounted for, and that we fear of the five deceased persons, that three of those, up to three are Australians, but that is not yet confirmed.
But with 11 Australians unaccounted for, three of those are feared to be amongst the five that have already been identified as deceased. This is a very, very hard day for a lot of Australian families whose loved ones have been caught up in this terrible, terrible tragedy. Can I also confirm that, after speaking with the New Zealand Prime Minister, that the operation has moved into recovery phase. There were four helicopters that were there as part of the recuse operation and assessing the scene, as the Prime Minister confirmed earlier, that were able to take a reconnaissance of the island at that time, and as New Zealand police said last night, there is not considered to be anyone on that island that remains alive ...
I fear there is worse news to come over the course of perhaps today or over the next few days. This is a terrible tragedy, a time of great innocence and joy interrupted by the horror of that eruption, and I would ask again that we refrain from any speculation about individuals at this time so we can ensure that we can contact and deal directly with families to ease what will be a highly anxious and highly upsetting time for them.”
Questions over why tourists were on White Island after experts noted volcanic activity
Five people have died and eight are still missing after an eruption on a volcanic island in New Zealand, the country’s prime minister has said.
Jacinda Ardern confirmed that New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, the US, Britain, China and Malaysia were among the missing and injured. The police do not expect to find more survivors on White Island, where two explosions in quick succession sent up a huge plume of ash that could be seen from the North Island.
New Zealand’s Whakaari/White Island volcano erupted on Monday at 2.11pm as 50 people were visiting the country's most active volcano. At least five people were killed and authorities confirmed some people were still waiting to be rescued hours after the eruption on the island, as experts explained it was unsafe for emergency services to return
Footage shows island in the Bay of Plenty coated with ash after volcano blew debris 12,000m into the air. The film also shows a downed helicopter and tourists stranded on the island waiting to be rescued by boat.
At least one person has died after volcano erupted suddenly while dozens of tourists were on the island. Follow the latest updates
Former prime minister Helen Clark has shared her condolences.
Terrible tragedy on White Island, an active volcano off NZ coast. My thoughts are with family of deceased & all injured & traumatised by the sudden eruption. Having walked to the crater on the island, I can well imagine the terror of what happened. https://t.co/Wlc5IaBVmX
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs says it is making “urgent enquiries” to find out if any Australians were affected by the eruption. However, it does not have any information to share at present.
New Zealand has been hit by a weekend of severe storms, with landslides and flooding in the South Island cutting off towns and trapping an estimated 1,000 foreign tourists.
Heavy rain has led to rivers bursting their banks, forcing the closure of shops and restaurants
Streets in the South Island tourist towns of Wanaka and Queenstown were slowly going under water on Friday, after Lake Wanaka and Lake Wakatipu burst their banks earlier in the week, flooding businesses and sewerage systems.
Water and large debris closed the main street of Wanaka, a popular spot with Instagrammers thanks to its famous tree that appears to have grown out of the lake. On Friday businesses were sandbagging as heavy rain continued to fall.
Scott Morrison announces cut in number of government departments as part of public service overhaul. All the day’s political news, live
Labor is moving a motion saying the government’s attempts to push the union-busting bill through without debate was “anti-democratic”.
Better still is this bit of the motion:
This is a prime ministerial tantrum, with the prime minister of Australia behaving like a juvenile schoolyard bully just because he didn’t get his way last week.
We’re now moving through the votes for the government’sunion-busting bill.
A side note - this is the 100th division to take place in the House for this sitting fortnight.
New Zealand’s political system relies on an untraceable flow of donations from rich individuals with personal agendas. That won’t change
The press release was triumphant. The justice minister, Andrew Little, announced that the government was banning foreign political donations, a move that would “protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections”.
This is a good thing. Across the Tasman, Australian politics has been roiled by allegations of Chinese interference. One donor, Huang Xiangmo, who had donated at least A$2.7m to both major parties, had his residency cancelled when his connections to Chinese Communist party-linked organisations were exposed. More recently Bond-esque revelations, including a Chinese defector, a dead businessman and a million-dollar donation, have emerged. Given that Australia is facing such a severe challenge to its democratic integrity, the attention Little is giving to this issue should be welcomed.
Justice minister cites risk of foreign meddling in 2020 election and says further action could be taken
New Zealand will ban foreign donations to politicians and tighten disclosure rules for political advertising, the government has said, as concerns over foreign interference intensify ahead of an election next year.
The government said it would introduce legislation on Tuesday banning donations over NZ$50 ($32) to political parties and candidates by foreigners.