NZ cops ‘lost White Island body at sea’

New Zealand Police has admitted the body of one of the White Island Volcano victims was found and then lost at sea.

A man watches as a plume of steam is seen above White Island the coast of Whakatane on December 10. Picture: AP

New Zealand Police has admitted the body of one of the White Island Volcano victims was found and then lost at sea, but denies claims made by a political activ­ist that officers ran the body over with a police boat.

In the aftermath of the eruption that killed 20 people, 16 of them Australians, the bodies of New Zealand tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman and Sydney teenager Winona Langford were washed out to sea.

Officials said on Wednesday the body of a man, believe­d to be Marshall-Inman, was found in the ocean but lost again in a ­failed recovery mission.

NZ Police Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement said the body was located by a navy ­vessel and then lost during an ­attempted transfer to a police boat in rough sea conditions.

“We are hugely disappointed that we have been unable to recover­ two people,” Mr Clement said in a statement.

“All efforts were made to recover­ the body, first by Defence­ Force staff who were on a RIB (rigid inflatable boat), and when this was unsuccessful an attempt was made to transfer the body to the police launch. However, due to the sea conditions this was also unsuccessful.”

Mr Clement also addressed claims by New Zealand political activist Ethan Tamaki, who said in a Facebook post that police were covering up the true events of the recovery attempt.

Mr Tamaki claimed that through “an anonymous and extremely­ reliable source within the NZ Defence Force” he ­received information stating that navy personnel in a small vessel were ordered to tow the body back to a police boat with a rope.

The body was then allegedly run over by the police boat, causing authorities to lose it in the water.

“(The navy) were ordered to tow the body by rope in the water out to the police vessel so they could retrieve it,” he wrote. “While doing so, the Police Commission Vessel ran over the body and it was never seen again.”

Mr Clement dismissed the claims made by Mr Tamaki, ­describing them as “offensive”.

“I would describe the claims in the Facebook post as offensive both to the families of the victims and to the police and Defence Force staff who worked tirelessly during the operation,” he said.

Mr Tamaki said in response that he did not attempt to offend the “valiant efforts” of navy and police personnel, only to highlight the alleged incompetence of those in charge.

“(It) was simply a poorly calcul­ated order that should not have been given and a mistake that should have had accountability openly taken by those in charge,” he said.