Three Australians feared dead, eight more unaccounted for after White Island volcanic eruption
An Adelaide woman missing after the volcanic eruption has been found with critical injuries in hospital but there is no sign of her husband or daughter.
New Zealand police have confirmed a sixth person has died in hospital after the volcanic eruption at White Island.
Three of the dead are believed to be Australian, according to Foreign Minister Marise Payne, while a Malaysian tourist and New Zealand tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman also died in the explosion.
The identity of the sixth victim has not yet been released by police.
A total 47 people were on the island in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty when the volcano exploded, including 24 Australians on a cruise ship tour. But the Red Cross missing persons list still shows 20 Australians are unaccounted for.
Most were evacuated and are now being treated in hospital, many suffering from severe burns and lung damage, but eight others were left on the island and are now presumed dead.
“No signs of life have been seen at any point (on the island),” New Zealand police said on Monday evening.
“Based on the information we have, we do not believe there are any survivors on the island.”
Desperate family members are now monitoring the New Zealand Red Cross Family Links website for information about their loved ones.
Thirty-one people, aged 13 to 72, remain in hospital and 27 of those have burns to more than 30 per cent of their body, NZ Ministry of Health spokesman Pete Watson said on Monday afternoon.
He said many have suffered inhalation injuries and lung damage from volcanic ash and gas.
Among the Australians still listed as missing are North Sydney couple Anthony Langford, 51, and Kristine Langford and their teenage children Winona, 17, and Jesse, 19, Adelaide lawyer Gavin Dallow, 53, and his wife’s daughter Zoe Hosking, 15, Coffs Harbour couple Richard Elzer, 32, and Karla Mathews, 32, and Brisbane mother and daughter Julie Richards, 47, and Jessica Richards, 20.
Here is the full list of Australians currently listed as missing:
• Anthony Langford, 51, of North Sydney
• Kristine Langford, of North Sydney
• Jesse Langford, 19, of North Sydney
• Winona Langford, 17, of North Sydney
• Gavin Brian Dallow, 53, of Adelaide
• Zoe Hosking, 15, of Adelaide
• Jessica Richards, 20, of Brisbane
• Julie Richards, 47, of Brisbane
• Karla Michelle Mathews, 32, of Coffs Harbour
• Richard Aaron Elzer, 32, of Coffs Harbour
• Jane Murray, 56, of Sydney
• Krystal Browitt, 21, of Melbourne
• Martin Hollander, 48, of Sydney
• Barbara Hollander, of Sydney
• Matthew Hollander, 14, of Sydney
• Berend Hollander, 16, of Sydney
• Diane Therese Kirby, of Sydney
• James Stewart Kirby, of Sydney
• Joshua Qin, 5, of Australia Sydney
“The challenge that we have, of course, is continuing restrictions on access back on to White Island for a number of reasons but most particularly because it is a very dangerous environment,” Ms Payne said on Tuesday night
“New Zealand officials, law enforcement and rescue and emergency officials are doing their very, very best to gain that access.
“Then, of course, there are people who are very, very, very badly injured by the events on White Island by the volcanic eruption and that also complicates the capacity to both communicate, identify all of these key issues.”
Authorities have said the victims’ bodies will be taken to Auckland for autopsies to be carried out.
The Advertiser reports Adelaide engineer Lisa Dallow, 48, whose husband and daughter Gavin Dallowand Zoe Hosking are still missing, has been found critically injured in hospital with severe burns to her body.
Rotary Adelaide wrote on its Facebook page that the family were valued members of its club and it would keep them in their thoughts and prayers.
Zoe Hosking is in Year 9 at St Aloysius College in Adelaide.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Zoe and her family,” principal Paddy McEvoy said today.
“We know that you share our sadness at this time. We turn to our loving God to give us strength and courage in the days ahead.”
Gavin Dallow’s father, Brian Dallow, told Seven News he was up every two hours on Monday night checking updates online about his son, Ms Hosking and her teenage daughter.
“We’re hoping they’re in hospital somewhere because, as far as we know, they didn’t get back on the ship,” he said.
Sydneysiders Martin and Barbara Hollander, as well as their children Matthew and Berend, are also still unaccounted for, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Matthew and Berend were in Year 8 and Year 10 at Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga, which their father had also attended.
“It is with a heavy heart that I can confirm that a Knox family is currently unaccounted for … in the eruption,” headmaster Scott James wrote.
The Daily Telegraph also reports Engadine couple Nick and Marion London are in hospital, as is Jason David Griffiths, 33, of Coffs Harbour who was rescued on Monday but is in a critical condition.
Mr Griffiths’ mother is flying to be with her son who has “horrendous” burns, Nine reported.
Sydney’s Marist College North Shore has confirmed that former student Jesse Langford was visiting White Island with his sister and parents on Monday.
“Jesse, who graduated last year was a talented and popular student during his time at the school, finishing up as MacKillop House captain,” a statement from the school’s principal said.
“Jesse has been a student at Marist since Year 7, with his family remembered fondly around the College.
“Please have the Langford family in your prayers.”
Ms Langford, a mother of two, posted on Instagram six days ago when the family left Sydney Harbour on the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship.
“We’re off cruising … Happy birthday (Anthony). Bon voyage everyone!” she wrote.
Mr Langford’s brother, Rodney, told Seven News they “don’t know anything at all” about what has happened to the family of four.
“All we know is that they went on a cruise on White Island, there was an explosion and they’re missing,” he said.
It is believed Julie Richards and her daughter Jessica, from Calamvale in Brisbane, were booked on a tour of White Island, according to The Courier Mail.
But Julie’s sister, Barbara Whitehead, told the newspaper she still hadn’t heard anything.
Newlyweds James Whitehouse, 23, and Madeleine Whitehouse, 24, from Brisbane, and their friend Mitchell O’Shea (originally from Canberra) have been reported safe, as has Tasmanian teen Tarli Sky Tonks, 14.
The first victim to be named was experienced tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman, who was described as a young and energetic man with the “kindest heart”.
His brother Mark Inman confirmed the news to friends and family on Facebook, saying he died “doing the one thing he loved”.
Friends remembered Mr Marshall-Inman as a “spectacular human” who was a generous, “lovely young man”.
“He had the kindest heart, it was never about him. He definitely created a ripple effect of happiness to others, a very likeable guy,” one woman wrote.
Former Whakatane mayor Tony Bonne also paid tribute to the White Island Tours guide, who he described as an “energetic man who’s lost his life”.
In a Facebook post, Phil and Steph van Dusschoten from Diveworks Dolphin and Seal Encounters in Whakatane said: “Hayden always made a point of letting us know if he saw dolphins and where they were and always had a hearty wave. RIP Hayden.”
White Island Tours’ website has been taken down and replaced with a message saying, “We are currently experiencing an emergency. For further information please contact us directly.”
The Whakatane-based company is one of the main staging points for trip to the volcano, known as Whakaari.
MORE: Dramatic moment volcano erupts
MORE: How the deadly disaster unfolded
Of the 47 people who were on the island at the time of the eruption, there were:
• 24 from Australia
• Nine from the US
• Five from New Zealand
• Four from Germany
• Two from the UK
• Two from China
• One from Malaysia
“I cannot break down those numbers any further until we have completed the DVI (disaster victim identification) process,” Deputy Police Commissioner John Tims said.
Relatives have not given up hope for Tipene Maangi, another guide thought to be on the volcano when it erupted.
The 24-year-old began his job with White Island Tours in September and was really enjoying the position, his cousin Anihera Paku, said.
His grandmother, who did not want to be identified by name, was at Whakatane Wharf early Tuesday waiting for news.
“We’re hoping he may have found a cave but knowing him, he would have been helping others before he thought about himself,” the grandmother told the NZ Herald.
Jake Milbank was also a guide on Whakaari when it erupted on his birthday.
He is now in hospital with burns to 80 per cent of his body and his family are by his side in hospital.
New Zealand Red Cross’ Family Links website received more than 60 posts from worried family members overnight and was intermittently crashing on Tuesday.
“If you are worried about a friend or family member following this eruption, first contact them as you normally would,” Red Cross advised on its website.
“Using your own channels can help to speed the process up and helps response agencies too. If you have lost contact with a family member or friend following the eruption, you can register them as missing.”
The sister of a woman who worked as a tour guide to White Island and had gone to help with the rescue said her sister told her the event was “hectic and crazy”.
“I’m guessing it would be just horrible, just sad and scary. She’d be pretty traumatised from the whole thing, just seeing people in that state,” she told Stuff.
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