Australian survivor Annie Lu takes the stand in White Island volcano disaster
The first Australian witness has revealed how she survived the disastrous White Island volcano tragedy with her mother, as she gave evidence on the third day of the trial.
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The first Australian witness who survived the White Island volcano tragedy has detailed how she has endured dozens of surgeries since the incident— including one only a fortnight ago.
Sydney woman Annie Lu and her mother Alice Xioman Zhang had been on a mother-daughter cruise holiday when they booked the excursion to the island in December 2019, the court heard.
The island’s owners, brothers Andrew, James and Peter Buttle, their company Whakaari Management Ltd and tour operators ID Tours NZ Ltd and Tauranga Tourism Services Ltd are on trial for allegedly failing to adequately protect tourists and staff.
In the heartbreaking evidence given by Ms Lu on the third day of the trial into the tragedy that killed 22 people, including 17 Australians, she said no one explained to them about the possibility of an explosion.
During the visit to the island, the group she was with had started heading back to the place where they had been dropped off when her mum decided to take one last photo of the crater and saw black clouds.
Then someone screamed “everybody run” before the explosion hit.
“Me and mum just ran but I remember thinking to myself there is no way we can outrun this. We’re going to have to find something to hide behind,” Ms Lu said.
“I saw this kind of biggish old rock formation and I just dived behind it.”
Ms Lu said she remembers her mum screaming her name before it went dark. She said she was in so much pain and she was screaming into her gas mask.
“It’s like your skin is melting off you ... it’s like 100 needles going into you. Think of a porcupine attacking you,” she said.
“It didn’t stop, it was everywhere. I don’t know how to describe it. There was sand and rocks everywhere that was getting thrown at me.”
“Think if you open an oven and that heat just rushes at you. It’s kind of like that, but a thousand times worse.”
Ms Lu —speaking via video link from Australia — detailed how the eruption had changed her physically and mentally, with her most recent surgery on her hands just two weeks ago.
Her promising career in the fashion industry was also ripped away as it was “all about appearances”.
“There’s not a piece of good skin really on my body,” she said.
Evidential interview of helicopter pilot Brian Depauw, carried out two days after the eruption, was also played to the court.
He landed his aircraft with four passengers on the volcanic island off the coast of New Zealand moments before the eruption.
Most of them managed to jump in the water as their chopper‘s rotors were destroyed when it was thrown from its launch pad amid the explosion.
However, Mr Depauw later found out his two other passengers had not got into the water and had been burned quite badly.
“Obviously there was lots of panic, lots of people screaming,” Mr Depauw said.
Mr De Pauw — who went under the water and held his breath for as long as possible — said that being able to get into the water was what saved him that day.
DAY TWO: ‘BODY SIZZLING’: WHITE ISLAND VICTIM REVEALS HORROR
A husband and wife who survived the White Island volcano tragedy that killed 22 people, including 17 Australians, have taken the stand on in the landmark trial into the disaster.
Matthew Urey, 39, and his wife Lauren, 35, had booked the trip for their honeymoon before the disaster struck.
A video of Mr Urey’s interview with a detective on January 24 in 2020 was played to the court in which he details the lead up to the incident, reported Stuff.
He recalled information saying it was New Zealand's most active volcano, however, there was no mention of an eruption risk with the only safety concerns listed were for people with mobility issues, who might have trouble getting on and off the boat.
“It seemed like it would be an amazing one to try,” Mr Urey said.
Mr Urey said once the tourists were in the boat and on their way, they were told the volcano was at stage two, which meant they wouldn’t be able to access some areas.
And while they weren’t directly told, he assumed it meant there was increased steam venting and thought there was a risk of eruption.
He said passengers were given hard hats and respirators for “comfort” because of the sulphur smell which Mr Urey said he used along with his own sunglasses.
In the video with police, Mr Urey also recalled how tourists began asking questions about the volcano once on the island.
The last time it erupted was in 2016 and Mr Urey remembered thinking it was every three years. His wife then began to panic because the volcano was at level two and it was 2019.
Mr Urey said the group had made it to the crater and were on the way back when their guide said “run”.
They had made it three quarters of the way back to the boat, before a few of them took cover behind a rock.
Mr Urey said they waited for it to pass, but he recalled feeling his flesh burning and yelling out in pain and started to cry.
He said because the ash was too thick he couldn’t run so he walked as fast as he could with his wife back to the dock where there was about 20 people waiting.
All Mr Urey could do on the 90 minute trip back to the mainland was rinse his face and drink fresh water.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have gone on that island if I knew eruption was level three,” Mr Urey told the court.
Mrs Urey told detectives, in a video played for the court on Wednesday, that all she heard was screams when fleeing the eruption.
“I made sure my husband was right by my side, I just ran for my life. I could hear all the screams...Screams for help and screams in agony,” she said.
“He (Mr Urey) screamed in agony, I’ve never heard him scream like that before. I remember him saying sorry, and me screaming in agony. My body was sizzling.
“I just thought for sure we were going to die...I kept telling him I loved him.”
Mrs Urey spent three weeks in a coma and told WorkSafe prosecutor Kristy McDonald in court the past three and a half years have been “extremely hard”.
She has had 75 surgeries since the eruption, with another scheduled for the end of the month.
Beyond the physical injuries, Mrs Urey was also left shattered over news she was classed as high risk and may never have children.
“I thought we were in good hands, and I thought we were safe,” she said.
MONEY FOCUS LED TO WHITE ISLAND TRAGEDY: COURT
A New Zealand court heard claims on Tuesday tourism operators put “profit over safety” which contributed to the White Island volcano tragedy.
In the judge-only trial, which is expected to last four months, lawyer Kristy McDonald, acting for Worksafe NZ, opened her case and said profits were placed ahead of people.
Ms McDonald told Judge Evangelos Thomas that while the events of December 9 couldn’t have been predicted, the fact the volcano could erupt at any time should have been foreseen.
“The businesses making their money from tours onto the volcano had clear duties under HSWA. They failed to comply with those duties, and the end result was that tourists and workers went to the crater of an active volcano without being advised properly of the risk,” Ms McDonald said.
“The world saw those risks play out in the most dramatic way on December 9.”
Six parties, including two tour companies and the island’s owners James, Peter and Andrew Buttle and their company Whakaari Management Limited (WML), have been charged with breaching health and safety regulations in the lead up to the disaster.
Worksafe NZ alleges the Buttle brothers and the company “failed to obtain expert advice on how WML could ensure that guided tours of Whakaari were conducted safely”.
And while the charges don’t carry the threat of jail time, if the parties are found guilty they could face hefty fines of up to NZ$1.5 million (AUD $1.39 million).
Ms McDonald also spoke about the lack of evacuation measures on the island as the emergency evacuations relying on the island’s wharf, which was nearing 100 years old.
Evacuation via helicopter was not realistic, she said, which is proven by the helicopter destroyed during the eruption.
“The limited things WML did in terms of infrastructure fell well short of their duty to ensure there was an adequate mechanism for evacuation,” Ms McDonald said.
“The end result was that tourists and workers went to the crater of an active volcano without being properly advised of the risks.
“Profit should never come before safety.”
Another six companies have already pleaded guilty to health and safety charges, including three helicopter tour operators, which entered 11th-hour pleas on Friday.
Among those to also plead guilty were White Island Tours, which ferried 21 of those killed — 19 tourists and two staff members — to the volcanic site by boat.
Volcanic Air Safaris, which flew in one tourist who died on the island, has also pleaded guilty.
In May last year, a judge cleared New Zealand’s emergency management agency of health and safety breaches.
Since the eruption, no boat or aircraft tours have been allowed to land on the island.
Originally published as Australian survivor Annie Lu takes the stand in White Island volcano disaster
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