New Zealand volcano tragedy: Water turned ‘green’ moments before volcano eruption
Eerie video shot by a tourist reveals a guide warned that water on the White Island volcano was ‘bubbling’ and ‘going green’ moments before the eruption. WATCH THE VIDEO.
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Chilling video has emerged from the moments before White Island erupted where a tour guide warned that the water on the island was “bubbling” and “turning green”.
“I’m a little bit worried about why it’s going green,” the guide can be heard saying as they pass a stream of water.
The volcano erupted 10 minutes after the group left the island.
Two tour groups had been over on the active volcano, with Brazilian tourist Allessandro Kaufmann in the first group that left.
In his GoPro footage, he walks about the island, the commentary of tour guides clearly audible in the background.
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For a brief moment it appeared members of the second party appear on his video.
The guides explain how hot the bubbling springs about the active crater can be, between 100 and 300 degrees, then fatefully tells the tourists what to do in an emergency.
“There is some bubbling water, please don’t get too close to it because it is under cap and we don’t know where it ends up under our feet and you may need to use your mask up here okay and if you do get engulfed by the steam, basically turn your back to it and if you need to just crouch down,” the unidentified guide tells them.
Associate Professor Derek Wyman from the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney said greenish water was in fact common in the geothermal parks of New Zealand’s North Island, and was not necessarily associated with an imminent outburst of volcanic activity.
“That green colour is common around geothermal fields and is typically related to sulphur and/or iron,” he said. “You can see dry sulphur crystals as yellow in the same shots as the green watery stuff.”
Later in the footage Kaufmann provides a deadpan commentary of his trip before the volcano erupts and crew yell for all passengers to get inside as the charter skipper calls the coast guard to tell them what was happening.
Passengers can be heard gasping in disbelief, pointing out people from the second tour group in the water, and expressing utter shock.
“I just hope no-one is hurt,” the Brazilian says to camera as his boat is turned around to help the second group.
CHRISTMAS PARTY VOLCANO FOOTAGE UNCOVERED
The frightening footage comes after it was revealed that a barrister took her staff to the volcano for an end-of-year Christmas treat just 48 hours before the eruption.
Barrister Rita Nabney had considered herself fortunate when a geyser suddenly blew during the Christmas party, spewing molten mud and steam high into the air.
It was a hint of something bigger, the start of the eruption below the surface. Some 48 hours later she and her team realised how truly lucky they were.
The video the group took of the day of the geyser could now become crucial evidence as authorities look to the lead up to Monday, when the active volcano blew, killing up to 14 and injuring more than 30 others.
“It was a Christmas do and we thought rather than go out for dinner we’d do something a bit more exciting,” Mrs Nabney told News Corp Australia.
“So we flew out there in two helicopters and walked about then we saw mud coming out of the side of the crater lake, similar to a geyser in Rotorua.
“We at the time thought we were quite fortunate to see that. Of course now we are terribly sorry for the fatalities and people who have been injured. We do feel blessed we were standing on that spot 48 hours earlier. We never imagined.”
A 20-second video shows the mud geyser and steam, a voice then cuts in to suggest it was time for the group to move on.
Before they embarked on their trip, Mrs Nabney said her team knew the risks and were given safety equipment and a thorough briefing, including of the existence of an emergency steel shelter on the island. They were also told the threat level had risen to 2 out of 5: “moderate and heightened unrest”.
Mrs Nabney was there with her husband and son, also both local barristers, office support staff and their partners.
One of the staff on the trip Toni Nickalls said when she heard the news she initially thought it was just another eruption, but then it was announced there were victims.
It was a shock and she said she felt for those directly affected.
“I just thought: ‘Crikey, we were there only 48 hours earlier’,” she said, describing the scene as something from another world.
“(Organisers) told us: ‘It is at Level 2 and if it gets any higher we stop’, and I thought: ‘OK, we’re not taking further risks but nobody knows, it can shoot from a (Level) 2 to what we see today. It’s so unpredictable. That’s the problem’.”
Originally published as New Zealand volcano tragedy: Water turned ‘green’ moments before volcano eruption
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