NZ volcano eruption: military rescue to bring lost souls home

Crack Kiwi soldiers to be dropped onto White Island volcano in bid to extract remaining eight lost souls.

A survivor of the fatal Whaakaari Volcanic eruption in New Zealand is removed on a stretcher from a RAAF C-130 Hercules at Sydney Airport in Sydney. Picture: AAP

Crack Kiwi soldiers will be dropped onto the volatile volcano in a bid this morning to extract the remaining eight lost souls left trapped on the killer crater of New Zealand’s White Island.

Despite the risk of another deadly eruption, New Zealand military will launch the operation to retrieve the bodies of at least six of those killed on Monday, and hopefully begin their journey back to their loved ones.

The operation comes as the ­official death toll continues to rise from the disaster believed to have claimed 16 lives already.

It also comes as new evidence emerged that guides were aware of the imminent potential danger but forged on with the fatal excursion regardless.

Australian medical teams have continued to fly more severely injured victims to hospitals across Australia for burns treatment.

Declaring “we have a plan”, New Zealand police deputy commissioner Mike Clement detailed the dangerous mission that was to begin at dawn on Friday, with a team of eight military to be flown from a naval frigate to the island.

The operation could take hours, with the priority to retrieve the six of the eight bodies that authorities have located. If possible, Mr Clement said, the other two bodies — whose locations on the island were unknown — might also be recovered.

“Let there be no mistake; it is not a zero-risk game and people are putting themselves on the front line to do the right thing,” Mr Clement said.

The bodies of six Australians — Jessica and Julie Richards, Krystal Browitt, Richard Elzer, Zoe Hosking and Karla Mathews — are believed to remain on the island, along with those of New Zealand tour guides Tipene Maangi and Hayden Marshall-Inman.

Krystal Browitt, a victim of the White Island eruption.

Ms Browitt’s father Paul was one of the first burns victim to be flown to Australia from New Zealand, touching down in Melbourne on Thursday for immediate treatment in the burns unit of the Alfred Hospital.

Mr Browitt, Krystal and her sister Stephanie had travelled to the island leaving their mother Marie on board the Royal Caribbean cruiser liner Ovation of the Seas.

Stephanie was badly burned and was in a coma in a Christchurch hospital, ahead of a medical transfer to Australia. Her mother has been by her side.

Friends of the shattered family described Krystal as an “amazing person” and her grieving mother torn up about being the only one in her family left unharmed.

“She’s blaming herself,” the friend said. “It’s hard, it’s extremely hard.”

Private and military aircraft will have flown 12 Australian survivors home for specialist burns treatment by Friday, helping to ­alleviate New Zealand hospitals struggling after the tragedy.

Late on Thursday five patients were in Concord Hospital in Sydney’s west, three were at Royal North Shore, two were taken to the Alfred in Melbourne and two were in transit.

The planned recovery operation comes as The Australian can reveal that at least one company worker appeared to have concerns about activity on the island before the volcano erupted — but went ahead with the trip anyway.

Aline Moura Kauffmann and her partner Allessandro were among a group of tourists who were leaving White Island just as the volcano erupted.

Posting online afterwards, she said: “The tour was uncertain yesterday when we booked. The guide told us they had recorded some activity at the volcano and that there was a risk of the tour being cancelled. In the end they decided to go ahead with the trip — we assumed whatever activity recorded had been insignificant. So we went. We did the tour, we walked around the crater. We saw the lake of boiling water and the smoke rising. All the usual things you see when you visit White ­Island.”

There are significant risks involved in the recovery operation on White Island Scientists have warned of a 40 to 60 per cent likelihood of another eruption, which may involve magma. That warning prompted NZ Police to rule out launching a retrieval operation on Thursday.

Despite no change to that warning, police and the New Zealand Defence Force have decided to push ahead with the operation on Friday. The team, wearing protective gear, will attempt to return the bodies to the frigate HMNZS Wellington.

Mr Clement said there were also plans in place in case the volcano erupts, which was his biggest fear. “The mountain, the volcano … we don’t control it,” he said.

“You know that the pattern of activity is atypical and in part at least that resulted in an eruption on Monday, so the risk remains in regard to that.”

Families of those believed to be on the island have been briefed in private on the operation. Family members of some of the Australians have arrived in Whakatane ahead of Friday’s operation.

After receiving a private briefing, Mark Inman — whose brother Hayden did not return from the island on Monday — said: “A little progress is good.”

Mr Inman, along with the family of Mr Maangi, have been pushing for the bodies to be retrieved all week and voiced their frustrations that it had not yet been done.

Whakatane mayor Judy ­Turner said she shared those ­frustrations. “I understand, when your son’s lying off on an island and you already know they’re dead, and you just want them back,” Ms Turner said.

After the retrieval plan was revealed on Thursday, she said it was “pleasing to hear”.

Mr Clement said he had spoken to families about compromises that might need to be made in regards to forensics and identification in order to get the bodies off the island.

“The best option might be to get on the island do what we have to do as quickly as possible and get off the island so it does come with trade offs,” he said.

“It’s far more important … that we get the bodies off first and then work with the consequences of that trade-off.”

Eight Australians have been confirmed or are believed to be dead: Coffs Harbour couple Karla Matthews, 32, and Richard Elzer, 32, Jason Griffiths, Adelaide man Gavin Dallow, 53, whose 15-year-old stepdaughter Zoe Hosking is presumed dead. Her mother Lisa is fighting for her life.

Brisbane mum Julie Richards, 47, and her vet science student daughter Jessica, 20, are also confirmed to be among the deceased.

Knox Grammar students Matthew Hollander, 13, and his brother Berend, 16, died in hospital. Their parents Barbara and Martin remain unaccounted for.

Sydney family Anthony and Kristine Langford along with children Jesse, 19, and Winona, 17, remain missing.