Sydney teenager Winona Langford and NZ tour guide both confirmed dead after White Island disaster

A coroner has confirmed Sydney teenager Winona Langford, who has been missing since the White Island volcanic eruption, is dead.

A Sydney teenager and a New Zealand tour guide missing for more than six weeks since the White Island volcanic eruption have been officially ruled as deceased by a coroner.

NZ Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims confirmed their deaths on Thursday afternoon.

“Two people missing presumed deceased following the Whakaari/White Island eruption have now been confirmed as deceased by the chief coroner,” he said in a statement.

“The two deceased are Hayden Marshall-Inman of New Zealand and Winona Langford of Australia.

Winona Langford, 17.

Hayden Marshall-Inman.

“The chief coroner has ruled that both Winona and Hayden died on Whakaari/White Island.

“The deaths of Winona and Hayden brings the official number of deceased to 20, 18 of whom died in New Zealand and two in Australia.”

Funerals have already been held for the 17-year-old girl and 40-year-old man who had been missing since the eruption.

Their bodies were unable to be recovered despite a complex operation in the days after the disaster. The bodies of six other victims were brought off the island as a result of the mission.

Jesse, Winona, Kristine and Anthony Langford in Sydney ahead of their trip to New Zealand.

Sydney teenager Jesse Langford, 19, was the sole survivor of his family-of-four who visited the island on December 9 last year while on an Ovation of the Seas cruise for his father’s birthday.

Melbourne father Paul Browitt became the 20th victim when he died in hospital as a result of his critical injuries earlier this month. His 21-year-old daughter, Krystal, was also killed while her older sister, 23-year-old Stephanie Browitt, remains in the Alfred Hospital.