Current Events > People 'unaccounted for' after volcano erupts in New Zealand

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50708727

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They are now in Mordor

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A volcano has erupted in New Zealand with 100 people in the vicinity - leaving some unaccounted for, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said.
Tourists were seen walking inside the rim of the White Island crater just moments before the eruption.
The local mayor told New Zealand media she feared there had been injuries.

"This is an evolving situation but at this stage we believe around 100 people were on or around the island at the time and some of those at this stage are unaccounted for," Ms Ardern said.
"A number of people are reportedly injured and are being transported to shore."

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solosnake posted...

Tourists were seen walking inside the rim of the White Island crater just moments before the eruption.

Fuck, what an awful way to go

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKA0-AUwxD8

Holy fuck dude, the guys on stretchers are completely caked in ash

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50708727

https://twitter.com/sch/status/1203894241413304320/video/1

my god

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That's horrible....

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To be fair, the island is nearly constantly active and the volcanic plume it gives off is toxic. I will never understand why people want to go there.

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I think one of the missing guys recorded this:

https://ifunny.co/fun/eidrKdKF7?s=s

Out of the 31 people still in hospital, 27 had burns to at least 30% of their bodies and many have inhalation burns that require airway support.
Given the extent of survivors' injuries, the death toll could continue to rise.

It's possible that not all patients will survive," Watson said.

https://www.cnn.com/australia/live-news/new-zealand-volcano-live-intl/index.html

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Holy shit, I actually have friends that went there on a geology trip about a decade ago. Freaky.

though from what they've said on Facebook, they were told that they weren't allowed to go on the island when there are high risk warnings, so not sure what's changed in the decade since, if the tour group involved here wasn't above the board, if the safety restrictions were loosened since, or if that claim was just a lie.

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it's just smoke right? No lava?

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/12/09/new-zealand-volcano-eruption-acfc-full-episode-vpx.cnn

Son leaves voice mail for mother telling her the volcano erupted while he was on it and that he is badly burned

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You were outside.

Why?

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https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/F9E0/production/_110086936_pair.jpg

mother and daughter aged 47 and 20 are among the confirmed dead

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Police said that of the 30 injured, 25 are in a critical condition while the other five are classed as stable but serious.

Police Minister Stuart Nash explained the injuries to the survivors were so severe that some of them were unable to identify themselves.

"There are a number of people in hospital who cannot communicate, they have significant burns not only to skin but internal organs," he told Radio New Zealand.
"We wish them the best but we're not out of the woods yet, of that there's no doubt."
Dr Peter Watson, chief medical officer at New Zealand's National Burns Unit said an estimated 1.2 million sq cm of replacement skin will be needed for the patients. An order has been placed from the US.

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solosnake posted...

the injuries to the survivors were so severe that some of them were unable to identify themselves

wat

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theres a downed damaged helicopter in one of the videos. Maybe it had gone through the ash cloud and it ruined the propellers, or part of it was hit by the blast.


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This never happened on Black Island, just saying.

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New Zealand police have said they plan to recover bodies from White Island - where a volcanic eruption killed at least eight people - on Friday morning.
The recovery mission will go ahead despite the risk of another eruption, police said.
"Today is less safe than yesterday, and the day before that," volcanologist Dr Graham Leonard said.
At least eight people are thought to be on the island following the eruption on Monday. All are presumed dead.
Police said they were planning a "high-speed recovery" of the bodies.

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"This is not a zero risk operation," he said.
Eight specialists from the New Zealand Defence Force will go to the island on Friday morning and "make every effort to recover all bodies".
Surveillance flights have allowed police to locate only six bodies so far. "We will make calls as the morning goes by," Mr Clement said.
He added that his biggest concern was the unpredictable volcano, followed by the weather, the direction of the wind and the state of the sea.
"A lot of things have to go right for this to work."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50753453

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Stories from some survivors/rescuers:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/asia/new-zealand-volcano-eruption-survivor-intl-hnk/index.html

Geoff Hopkins says he will never forget the cries as the survivors of the White Island volcano eruption were pulled aboard the boat.
Screaming in pain, with skin peeling from their faces and limbs scorched by steam and ash, the survivors were transferred from a dinghy bobbing in the water off the small island.
There was "lots of screaming. Panicked screaming," he says, recalling the injured shouting: "'Get me out of here. I'm burning. I'm burning.'"

In the moments immediately after the eruption, the boat's crew made the decision to turn around and help those people left behind.

"We (could) see there's people in the water. There's people swimming off the island," Hopkins, a New Zealand pastor who was on the vessel for a day trip with his daughter Lillani, told CNN.
The 23 people who were brought on board the boat had "horrific burns," he said.
"A lot of people were in shorts, T-shirts, so their faces, their arms, their hands, their legs (were burned)," Hopkins added. "Skin falling off, and hanging from chins. From fingers. From elbows."

He recalled one crew member's expression: "The look of horror on her face as she said, 'We need all the help we can get.'"
As the pair turned from tourists to first responders, he said they focused on those who were most seriously injured.
Of all the people that Hopkins helped, he says one couple has stuck in his mind the most.

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Two teen brothers from Chicago among New Zealand volcano victims

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/474255-two-teen-brothers-from-chicago-among-new-zealand-volcano

Matthew Hollander, 13, and Berend Hollander, 16, died after being taken to the hospital following Mondays explosion, The Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. They had been touring New Zealands White Island with their parents, who are still listed as missing.
Both brothers were born in the Chicago area and later moved to Sydney, Australia, where their father works.
It is with the greatest sadness that I can confirm that Matthew Hollander and Berend (known as Ben) Hollander have passed away in hospital as a result of injuries sustained in the White Island volcano eruption, the headmaster of Knox Grammar School, where the teenagers attended, said in a letter to parents. Please take some time to reflect on the lives of Matthew and Ben and this devastating loss for our community.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50790481

Damn, the first victim confirmed by the police was a 10/10

RIP

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They seriously need to start enacting some volcano control laws before this gets out of hand.

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I thought they have ways of predicting eruptions?!

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FratMilkyHolme posted...

I hope she died instantly and wasnt burned to death

I dont think anyone died instantly. Sounds like it was an excruciating death.

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I don't know who the hell was in charge that allowed tourism anywhere near the site of the volcano when there was sufficient warning that the volcano was active and could erupt. It was an unfortunate disaster that was waiting to happen.

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Krystal Browitt, a 21-year-old studying veterinary nursing, is still missing but believed to be one of the bodies collected today.
She was on the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas to celebrate her 21st birthday with her family.
Her father Paul was medevaced to Melbourne on Thursday morning, her older sister Stephanie is in a New Zealand hospital with severe burns and her mother Marie, who decided not to go on the volcano tour, is awaiting news.

Also more info on other victims in this article

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/white-island-volcano-eruption-victims-named-as-soldiers- retrieve-bodies/news-story/24ff8d5074d35949480631a5ec45eeb7

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Richard Elzer, 32 and Karla Matthews, 32, are also confirmed dead.
The high-school sweethearts, from Coffs Harbour on NSWs Central Coast, had been travelling with a group of friends on the cruise ship.
Their friend Jason Griffiths, 33, died in hospital after suffering severe burns. Other friends, who had been travelling with the three, are at the bedside of another severely burnt friend, believed to have burns to 80 per cent of his body.

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Places like that should be for scholars and scientists only such as marine biologists and volcanologists.
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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

I don't know who the hell was in charge that allowed tourism anywhere near the site of the volcano when there was sufficient warning that the volcano was active and could erupt.

I don't think there's a hell of a lot of regulation of tourist operators. The owners of the island will be sweating hard right now though, even if it isn't their responsibility.

The island is constantly active, and IIRC, it only went up one alert level, something that isn't that infrequent.

On the one hand, that means people will perceive it as safe because "it's always like that". On the other, it's all the more reason nobody should go there without being part of a scientific study or signing a liability waiver.

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By the way we have another active volcano (Mount Ruapehu) which erupts about once or twice a decade. It has a popular ski resort on it...
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It'll be a miracle if anyone who inhaled that stuff straight from the bong survives. That's like snuffing angry fiberglass.

At best, any survivors will still contract pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

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FratMilkyHolme posted...

Fuck. As someone sensitive to hot temperature, just fuck.

I'm sensitive to warm temperatures, so... damn.

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