NZ volcano eruption: Adelaide lawyer Gavin Dallow confirmed dead, stepdaughter Zoe Hosking presumed dead on island

85-year-old Brian Dallow led his family to confirm the worst: his son and grandaughter had died in NZ.

Gavin Dallow, left, and his stepdaughter Zoe Hosking have been confirmed dead.

Just two weeks ago Brian Dallow spent a blissful three days with his only son Gavin at the Adelaide Oval watching the Second Test.

At 4.30pm today the 85-year-old led the Dallow family into the front garden of their humble home in Adelaide’s outer suburbs to confirm the worst.

His son Gavin and granddaughter Zoe are both dead in the New Zealand volcano tragedy.

Accompanied by Gavin’s twin sister Meredith who choked back tears as her father spoke, and five other members of his family, Mr Dallow said he felt blessed to have had those three days at the oval with his son.

Brian Dallow, father of Gavin Dallow, who has died in New Zealand following the volcano eruption. Picture: Tait Schmaal

“I was lucky enough to spend those last three days of the Test Match with him which was only two days prior to him to when he left on the trip,” Mr Dallow said.

“That’s something I will always have with me.”

The distraught family also paid tribute to their granddaughter Zoe, 15, a much-loved year nine student at Adelaide’s St Aloysius College who was a passionate camper who loved the Girl Guides.

“She was always so busy, she was a keen guider, and she sang the national anthem here at the baseball the other week,” he said.

“She was always on the go.”

Gavin and Lisa Dallow and Zoe Hosking pictured on Gavin and Lisa’s wedding day in March 2017. Picture: Supplied

“Naturally all this will have a big impact on us, just coming on Christmas. We are really going to miss them.”

The distraught family has already had a very difficult year with Mr Dallow’s wife Ruth, Gavin’s mum, battling a diagnosis of lung cancer.

Mr Dallow said he would miss the help his son had given him in caring for her.

He also took aim at the safety standards of the tour operators who led the family into such a volatile volcano zone.

“If he had been fully informed of the dangers he wouldn’t have gone to the island, I’m quite sure of that,” Mr Dallow said.

“Somebody has done the wrong thing over there.”

Mr Dallow said his son’s body had been identified at a hospital in Auckland and that he would be flown home after a post mortem had been conducted, but was unclear as to when that would occur.

The family also read from a prepared statement confirming details of Mr Dallow and Ms Hosking’s deaths.

Family hits out at tour company

Earlier today in an interview with The Australian Mr Dallow hit out at the tour company responsible for the White Island day trip.

Mr Dallow’s father and sister, Brian and Meredith Dallow, issued a statement this afternoon saying Mr Dallow, 53, had been found and identified by NZ police and that Ms Hosking was presumed dead with her body on White Island, where Monday’s eruption occurred.

The Dallow family said recovery may not be possible for at least a couple of days due to the dangerous conditions. They confirmed that Zoe’s mother, Lisa Dallow, remained in hospital in Hamilton, where she is being treated for massive burns.

“We mourn the loss of Gavin and Zoe,” the Dallow family said.

“Gavin was a wonderful son and brother. We’ll miss him at the cricket and we’ll miss him at the football. He was a generous man, always helping his family and his community.

“Our hearts break at the loss of Zoe at such a young age. We know her loss will also devastate her school community and the local Girl Guides, of which she was an active member.

“The Dallow family is extremely thankful for the support from relatives, Rotary, the local church community and the broader community. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance received from DFAT, emergency services and the very understanding New Zealand Police.”

“We are devastated by the news that Gavin Dallow and Zoe Hosking, the husband and daughter of our colleague Lisa Dallow, have died in the White Island volcano tragedy,’’ Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said in a statement.

“Lisa remains in a critical condition in hospital and we are grateful for the care she is receiving.

“Lisa has worked for Santos for more than 20 years, many of her friends and colleagues are struggling with what’s happened to their work mate and friend.

“We send our deepest sympathies to the Dallow family and friends, and all those affected by this tragedy.’’

READ MORE: ‘Surreal’ footage shot before eruption | Coroners begin identifying bodies | First confirmed Aussie dead named

Mr Dallow’s wife and Zoe’s mother, 48-year-old Santos engineer Lisa Dallow, was also missing but was found by a family member in Hamilton Hospital late Tuesday, where she is fighting for her life in a coma with burns to 57 per cent of her body.

‘Why was my family allowed to visit the island?’

Mr Dallow’s father Brian Dallow earlier on Wednesday told The Australian the family had “great concerns” about the fact that his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter were allowed to visit White Island at all.

“If anything Gavin was ultra-conservative,” Mr Dallow, 85, told The Australian.

“He wouldn’t do anything reckless or dangerous or stupid. He worked at the Legal Services Commission for years so he knows what stupid people act like.

“He would have never done anything to endanger himself or especially his family. If he’d seen or read or been told anything about the dangers there is no way he would have taken his family to that island.”

Mr Dallow was at his home in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs this afternoon being supported by his daughter Meredith, Gavin’s twin sister, who has also expressed her concerns about the safety of the volcano tour.

Mr Dallow said the family had been “just hanging on” amid the stress of not knowing about the fate of Gavin and Zoe, whose Adelaide school St Aloysius College held prayers in its chapel today that there could somehow be a miracle.

“If there is going to be a miracle it will have to be a big one, “ Mr Dallow told The Australian. “We are expecting the worst.”

Lisa Dallow was discovered in the Hamilton Hospital on Tuesday by her brother, Melbourne man David Francis, who contacted her Adelaide-based family with news that she was alive, albeit with shocking burns.

Mr Francis travelled to New Zealand urgently on Tuesday morning to search for his sister, but Mr Dallow said he had “no good news” about his son or granddaughter.

“He scoured every ward of the hospital looking for them, he did the rounds of the whole place, but nothing,” Mr Dallow said.

“I wish they had never gone there at all.”

The family departed last Wednesday on a two-week Royal Caribbean cruise of New Zealand and the South Pacific but Mr Dallow and Ms Hosking have not been heard from since they left on Monday for the White Island day trip.

St Aloysius College principal Paddy McEvoy issued a statement yesterday morning confirming that Zoe and her family were missing.

Principal Paddy McEvoy said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Zoe and her family. The SAC Chapel is open and school counsellors are on hand to support students.”

“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.”

Mr Dallow ran his own law firm, Dallow Legal, that has a special focus on dispute resolution and affordable legal representation.

The Dallow Legal website says Mr Dallow drew great pride from his community work as an active Rotarian who has been a member of Rotary International for 23 years.

He was a member of the Rotary Club of Adelaide where he had served as President in addition to other leadership roles.

“He is very proud of his international service, in particular his work with a project in the Philippines that improved the life of remote villagers,” the Dallow Legal website says.

Mr Dallow’s great passion outside of his community work is tennis, and he has umpired at the Australian Open on 11 occasions and been a community umpire in SA for the past 17 years.

At the conclusion of the family’s cruise holiday he had been scheduled to go to Melbourne in the New Year as a linesman at next year’s Australian Open.