NZ volcano eruption: Australian Jason Griffiths confirmed dead in NZ
Australian man Jason Griffiths has died in hospital in New Zealand after suffering burns to 80 per cent of his body in the volcano eruption.
- Aussie victims to be flown home
- Police release list of missing
- First Australian victims confirmed
- ‘Surreal’ footage before eruption
- Eruption warning amid tremor increase
- Survivors ‘too burnt to be identified’
- Tourists ‘weren’t warned’
New Zealand Police have confirmed the names of seven Australians and two New Zealanders who are identified as dead or presumed dead in Monday’s White Island volcano tragedy.
They are Adelaide man Gavin Dallow, 53, his stepdaughter Zoe Hosking, 15, Brisbane mother Julie Richards, 47, and her daughter Jessica, 20, Melbourne woman Krystal Browitt, 21, and Coffs Harbour couple Richard Elzer and Karla Mathews, both 32. Follow the latest below.
READ MORE: First confirmed Aussie dead named | Formal identification process begins | Covered in ash, this was horrific | ‘Missing’ Aussie mum alive but fears for family | From dream voyage to tragedy | Tragedy hits cruise sector in high season | Private peak ‘unimaginably’ deadly | Volcano a trip ‘of a lifetime’ | Extra staff sent to help families
9.52pm: Another Australian confirmed dead
The friends of three Australian victims of the deadly Whakaari volcano eruption have confirmed their deaths.
In a statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Wednesday night, the friends of Jason Griffiths, Karla Mathews and Richard Elzer said they were “incredibly saddened to have lost three of our closest friends”.
Griffiths was in hospital with burns to 80 per cent of his body, but has since died.
It brings the number of Australians confirmed dead in the disaster to seven.
“I was too late, now I just have to bring him home,” his sister Melissa Griffiths posted on Facebook.
Just hours earlier, Ms Griffiths had posted, “I’m coming brother, please hold on. I’ll be there in a couple of hours. I love you, you got this!”
Victoria Laurie 8.42pm: 120 square metres of US skin ordered for grafts
An astonishing 120 square metres of skin is being flown in to New Zealand for urgently needed grafts to treat the 29 White Island victims receiving intensive care in burns units across the country.
One Australian patient in Wellington was due to be transported home late on Tuesday to Sydney by NZ special air ambulance.
Up to 10 more patients were due to be repatriated by Australian Defence Force aircraft and transported to burns units in Sydney and Melbourne.
Three RAAF aircraft were deployed to Christchurch overnight, with a team of specialist aircrew and medical equipment on board.
The skin was ordered from the US to treat horrific burns suffered by survivors of New Zealand’s volcanic eruption on Monday. Other medical supplies from Australia include skin graft donations from Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria and the NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service.
Every survivor is now being treated in one of NZ’s four specialist burns units; 11 at Middlemore, eight in Christchurch, six at Waikato and four at Hutt Valley.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Peter Watson revealed the high demand for skin in a media conference at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital, the nation’s biggest burns unit.
Dr Watson confirmed the majority of victims are severely injured with more than 30 per cent of burns. “We have one or two with up to 90 per cent burns – we are hoping they will survive.”
Of the 34 people taken to hospital following the eruption on Monday, 22 remain in a critical condition on airway support.
Seven Australians and two New Zealanders have been identified by New Zealand police as presumed dead.
Mark Schliebs 7.51pm: We could have got them: volcano pilot
The bodies of eight people left on White Island could have been retrieved on Monday, but the pilots who carried survivors to safety were told to stand down.
Helicopter pilot Mark Law believes conditions were fine to retrieve the bodies on Wednesday, despite New Zealand Police saying that it was too dangerous.
Mr Law told The Australian that he had wanted to retrieve to bodies soon after he had brought back a group of survivors on Monday, and was “just gutted” when he and two other pilots were “stood down”.
David Penberthy 6.23pm: Distraught family pays tribute to son, granddaughter
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.
Rachel Baxendale 5.29pm: List released of those identified or presumed dead
New Zealand Police have confirmed the names of seven Australians and two New Zealanders who are identified as dead or presumed dead in Monday’s White Island volcano tragedy.
The seven Australians are Adelaide stepfather Gavin Dallow, 53, his stepdaughter Zoe Hosking, 15, Brisbane mother Julie Richards, 47, and her daughter Jessica, 20, Melbourne woman Krystal Browitt, 21, and Coffs Harbour couple Richard Elzer and Karla Mathews, both 32.
The two New Zealanders are tour guides Hayden Marshall-Inman and Tipene Maangi.
New Zealand Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said the nine had been identified and confirmed as missing by next of kin.
“We have a definitive list of people in hospital whose names we can’t release due to privacy reasons,” Mr Tims said.
“The (list) is a list of nine people who are not either in hospital or who have not been discharged.
“These people are listed officially as missing.
“This is not a complete list of the missing as we have been unable to speak with all next of kin involved.”
Six people have been confirmed dead by New Zealand police, with a further eight bodies believed to still be on the Island.
Of the 34 people taken to hospital following the eruption on Monday, 22 remain in a critical condition on airway support.
Ben Packham 3.57pm: RAAF deployed to repatriate victims
Three Royal Australian Air Force aircraft have been deployed to New Zealand to repatriate Australian victims of the volcanic eruption.
An RAAF C-130 Hercules departed RAAF Base Richmond and two C-17 Globemasters departed RAAF Base Amberley to Christchurch, with a team of specialist aircrew and medical equipment on board.
One aircraft is already on the ground in Christchurch and another will touch down in Christchurch at 4pm AEST.
Mark Schliebs 3.44pm: Aussie victims to be flown home
A group of Australian victims of Monday’s deadly White Island volcano eruption will be flown out of New Zealand on defence aircraft to be treated in Australia.
NZ Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims also said the names of victims will be released later today.
“Today, we are able to release the names of those who have been identified or confirmed as missing,” he said. “Those names will be on our website shortly.
“An Australian Defence aircraft is heading to New Zealand now to uplift a number the injured Australians.”
One Australian will be flown separately by a special air ambulance from Wellington to Sydney tonight.
Authorities were unable to get the eight bodies off White Island today.
Sarah Stuart Black, director of the Civil Defence Emergency Management, National Emergency Management Agency said the inability to get the bodies off the island has devastated families, some of whom will arrive in nearby Whakatane in the coming hours.
“We know that families are expected to begin arriving in Whakatane from today,” she said.
“This is an utterly tragic situation. We all agree that retrieving of bodies of the deceased from the island is imperative. Everyday that passes with those bodies unrecovered is a day of anguish for their loved ones who have been affected.”
David Penberthy 3.35pm: Family demands to know why island tour was allowed
Distressed relatives of the Adelaide father and teenage girl still missing in New Zealand are angrily demanding answers as to why their loved ones were allowed to visit White Island despite clear signs of dangerous volcanic activity.
Lawyer Gavin Dallow, 53, and his stepdaughter Zoe Hosking, 15 are still unaccounted and have not been heard from since they took a day trip from a family cruise to White Island on Monday.
Rachel Baxendale 3.28pm: Police to release list of missing
New Zealand Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims says police will release the names of all volcano victims who have been identified or confirmed as missing “shortly”.
“Today we are able to release the names of those who have been identified or confirmed as missing. Those names will be on our website shortly,” Mr Tims said shortly before 3.30pm AEST.
Sarah Elks 2.55pm: ‘If there was an adventure, they were there’
If there was an outdoor adventure to be had, Brisbane mother Julie Richards and her 20-year-old daughter Jessica were up for it.
The pair, the first confirmed Australian victims of Monday’s White Island volcano eruption, had been looking forward to their shared cruise holiday for months.
“What can you say? It’s just devastating news. New Zealand police confirmed this morning that both Julie and Jess are among the deceased in this tragic incident in New Zealand,” family spokesman John Mickel – the former Speaker in the Bligh Labor government in Queensland – said.
Rachel Baxendale 2.20pm: Jesse Langford found alive: reports
There are unconfirmed reports that 19-year-old Jesse Langford has been found alive in a New Zealand hospital.
Andrew Burt, whose daughter is friends with Wenona Langford, told The Australian he had heard “via a family from Whakatane” that Jesse had been found in a hospital, but he said he did not have any further information.
The Seven Network is reporting that relatives are flying to New Zealand today to visit Jesse and look for the rest of the Langford family – Anthony, 51, his wife Kristine, and daughter Winona, 17, from North Willoughby.
However, the report said the relatives did not know which hospital Jesse was in, nor what his condition was.
Rachel Baxendale 1.58pm: First Australian victims confirmed
A Brisbane mother and daughter have become the first Australians to be confirmed by New Zealand authorities as victims of Monday’s White Island volcano eruption.
Julie Richards, 47, and her daughter Jessica, 20, died after the eruption hit the Bay of Plenty Island at 2:11pm local time on Monday.
New Zealand Police have contacted their family to confirm their bodies have been found.
1.40pm: ‘Surreal’ footage shot before eruption emerges
As New Zealand police begin their investigation into why tourist operators continued to run tours amid a heightened risk of an eruption, a British geologist has released footage of the White Island volcano spewing what appears to be rocks or mud in the days before the tragedy.
James Siddorn, 46, visited the island last Thursday and shared the “surreal” footage taken just four days before Monday’s eruption that has so far claimed six lives.
He described his trip to the island as “a great visit”.
“It was a bit weird, I was there on Thursday, so when I heard about the news I couldn’t believe it,” Mr Siddorn said.
“My first thoughts were with the tour operators. They were so wonderful, and to think that they had likely been caught up in it was awful.
“It was surreal to think I stood on the edge of that crater just days before the eruption happened.
“It was such a violent and quick eruption. It was shocking.
“It’s hard to tell, I’m not sure if it’s rocks or mud coming out. When you look at that it was steadily erupting and gurgling away.
“My thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”
12.30pm: Eruption warning amid tremor increase
A “significantly increased” volcanic tremor was recorded on White Island early on Wednesday morning – raising the possibility of another eruption – while police plan an operation to recover of eight people who are resumed dead following Monday’s disaster.
GNS Science’s GeoNet program, which monitors activity at the volcano, said the tremor was a sign that “volcanic gas pressures remain high”.
Duty volcanologist Craig Miller said in an alert bulletin that the tremor increased since 4am.
“This has been accompanied by vigorous steaming and localised mud jetting in several of the craters created by the eruption on Monday,” he said. “We interpret these signals as evidence of continued high gas pressures within the volcano.
“The situation remains highly uncertain as to future activity. Eruptions in the next 24 hours are still likely to occur.”
Scientists collected gas samples – which can help predict volcanic activity – during a flight near the volcano on Tuesday, but were still being analysed.
A level 3 alert remains in place.
11.37am: Survivors ‘too burnt to be identified’
Some of the survivors of the Whakaari/White Island volcano eruption are so badly burnt they have not yet been identified, according to New Zealand’s police minister.
Stuart Nash told Radio NZ that a number of patients being treated in hospital can’t speak or communicate because of “significant burns not only to skin but to internal organs.
“They cannot speak in any way, shape or form,” Mr Nash said.
Forty seven people, including 24 Australians, were on the island at the time of the explosion, which occurred at 2pm AEDT. There are currently 30 patients in six hospitals around New Zealand, with 27 still critical, and three in a stable but in serious condition.
The official death toll sits at six – including three Australians – after the death of a victim at an Auckland hospital on Tuesday.
While the exact number of Australian fatalities has not yet been released, there are grave fears for as many as 11 Australians, with three believed to have died and up to eight missing, feared dead.
NZ police have begun an operation to return bodies to their families, with a drone launched Wednesday morning to check on conditions on White Island.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Bruce Bird said authorities have been checking conditions on the island every two or three hours, hoping to get the all-clear to retrieve the bodies of eight people who have been missing – presumed dead – since the volcanic eruption on Monday.
“Following the deaths of six people as a result of the Whakaari/White Island eruption on Monday, and further monitoring of positions on the island since the eruption, a significant operation to identify and return the deceased to their loved ones has begun,” Mr Bird said. “The bodies of those confirmed deceased have been flown to Auckland for the post-mortem process.
“This is because we are conscious of returning loved ones to their families – wherever their families are – as soon as possible.”
A drone was flown to the island at about 8.30m local time (6.30am AEDT) on Wednesday morning, but “we will not be moving there until the situation is safe for us”. Victim identification specialists are on standby.
Mr Bird declined to comment on who has died and those whose bodies are on the island.
“While we are working through this process, we are unable to confirm how many of the deceased are from each country,” he said.
“We will release the names of those who have sadly died as soon as the formal identification process has been completed,” he said.
Chief Coroner Deborah Marshall said she has declared a “mass fatality incident” to bring in more resources to investigate the deaths.
Emergency services and search and rescue teams have gathered at Whakatane airport in preparation for the recovery of bodies. A recovery operation may begin today, but must wait for the island to be deemed safe.
Meanwhile, the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, some of whose passengers were among those caught in the eruption, left the port at Tauranga early Wednesday morning.
A crowd gathered at the wharf to watch it depart.
The ship is now headed for Wellington, and passed White Island on the way.
“Paying our final respect (sic) as we sail past White Island after the tragic natural disaster. RIP all those that lost their lives,” Elaine Drake, a passenger on board said in a caption of a picture posted to the ship’s Facebook group.
It is believed that nearly two dozen Australian passengers were taken by boat from Tauranga to White Island on Monday.
The ship had been due to depart Tauranga on Tuesday, but pushed that back by a day following Monday’s tragedy.
The official death toll remains at six – which includes three Australians – with a further eight missing who police believe are dead on the island.
9am: Tourists weren’t warned of eruption risks
New Zealand police are investigating why tour operators allowed holidaymakers to explore the crater of the highly volatile White Island volcano just weeks after the seismic alert level was raised, as authorities said up to 14 people were believed to have died in the eruption.
As dangerous conditions continued to prevent rescue authorities recovering up to eight bodies believed to be on White Island, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told parliament there were “bigger questions’’ that needed to be answered about the tragedy.
More than 30 people have been hospitalised with severe burns, including 13 Australians, putting pressure on New Zealand’s four burns units and prompting medical authorities to consider sending some patients back to Australia for treatment.
Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that three Australians were believed to have died and he feared “worse news” in coming days, with the death toll expected to rise. Police said it could be days before names of the dead were released.
New Zealand Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said five people had died and eight more were missing, “presumed deceased” on the island, buried beneath volcanic ash. The official death toll rose to six on Tuesday night when a victim being treated at Middlemore Hospital succumbed to their injuries.
Amid rising anger about why tourists were allowed to travel to the island given heightened seismic alert levels, Ms Ardern told parliament there were “bigger questions” that needed to be answered about the tragedy.
“These questions must be asked and they must be answered,” she said.
The mother of a US woman injured in the blast said she was “livid” that her daughter and son-in-law weren’t told about the risks.
“My son-in-law never would have booked the excursion if he knew there was any chance of them being injured,” she said.
Mr Tims said there would be a police investigation on behalf of the coroner into who was responsible, which would run alongside an investigation by WorkSafe authorities.
GNS Science, which monitors the activity of the White Island volcano, said it had classified the island at “level 2” only twice since it last erupted more than three years ago. It had been upgraded to level 2 last month. A level 2 classification states: “We are measuring significant changes and there is an increased eruption potential.”
Mr Tims said flights over the island had not revealed any signs of life. Rescuers have not set foot on the island since Monday afternoon. He said air samples taken by drones would determine when the recovery effort could resume. There was a 50 per cent chance of an eruption occurring within the next 24 hours, he added.
Mr Tims said authorities had a good idea of where the eight bodies would be found.
“We have some photos, and you can see some markings on the photos that indicate perhaps where the bodies are, so we’ve got an idea,” he said. “Certainly the bodies are covered in ash, so we’re unsure what state the bodies will be in.” Images from island web cameras showed groups of people walking in the crater just minutes before the eruption.
Of the 47 people on or around the island during the explosion, 24 were Australian with a large party coming from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas.
Mr Morrison expressed his deep sympathy for the families of those who had died or were injured or missing.
“This is a very, very hard day for a lot of Australian families whose loved ones have been caught up in this terrible, terrible tragedy,” Mr Morrison said.
“I fear there is worse news to come over the course of perhaps today or over the next few days.”
Mr Tims said that, as well as the 24 Australians on the island, there were two people from Britain, four Germans, five New Zealanders, two Chinese, one Malaysian and nine from the US. He said police would do “everything we can” to retrieve the bodies of those who had perished, and were on Tuesday working with Defence personnel to determine conditions using drone technology carrying specialised measuring equipment.
“This requires a boat getting into within 1km of the island, in order to launch the drones,” Mr Tims said. “We are hoping to do this today. Unfortunately, we have had one attempt, the conditions have been against us and it’s been too windy.”
The Australian can reveal a third-party tour operator has run the White Island tours for passengers of Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Royal Caribbean removed details of the “White Island Volcano Experience Cruise and Guided Exploration” — the name used by the tour business, Kiwi Excursions — from its website this week.
Its founder, Karl Petrie, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
According to its website, Kiwi Excursions offers “tours in all ports, and have exclusive tours (only available through Kiwi Excursions or participating cruiselines) including the White Island Shore Excursion from Tauranga/Mt Maunganui”.
“We work with cruiselines and their ground operators, including Royal Caribbean & Celebrity Cruiselines, IDNZ Tours & Renaissance Tours,” its website states.
It describes the tour at greater detail on a separate booking site.
“Coming up to the island, your boat will position itself close to a sheltered bay and jetty … and will deploy a platform and special Zodiacs,” the listing says. “Grab your helmet and gas mask and hop aboard! These inflatable crafts take you from your boat where you will debark and climb easily to the jetty.
“Once ashore on White Island, you’ll receive a safety briefing before setting out on a guided walk to view all the geothermal wonders that abound. Since the majority of the volcano sits beneath the sea, you head straight to the action without much, if any, climbing at all.”
Additional reporting Rachel Baxendale, Tessa Akerman
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