The official death toll from the eruption of a New Zealand volcano has risen to eight. Authorities said a "highly volatile" situation at the disaster site is frustrating efforts to recover eight others presumed dead.
The toll is expected to keep rising, with eight others presumed dead on the island and more than 20 victims hospitalized and receiving treatment for severe burns.
"We are now living with a growing sense of desperation to bring home those that we know are there and those we love," Judy Turner, mayor of the nearby town of Whakatane, told reporters. "The frustration of those families most affected is completely understandable."
Police said they were monitoring the situation and were planning to deploy a recovery mission on Friday morning.
A volcano on New Zealand's White Island erupted on Monday sending a large plume of smoke into the sky over the popular tourist destination.
Image: Michael Schade/Twitter@sch
Last-second escape
Tourist Michael Schade wrote on Twitter as he posted video of the eruption that his "family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it. Boat ride home tending to people our boat rescued was indescribable.''
Image: Michael Schade/Twitter@sch
Whakaari smoke billows
Massive clouds of smoke and debris billow from New Zealand's White Island (also known as Whakaari) in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. It's a destination that's popular with tourists because of its unusual, moon-like surface.
Image: Reuters/@Donnacha
Aerial view of hikers
This aerial view shows a group of tourists at the crater's rim before it erupted. About 10,000 people visit the volcano every year. It was unclear whether the group was alerted to flee or was continuing a tour, unaware of the looming danger.
Image: Reuters/GNS Science
Thick smoke
Thick clouds of ash, steam and debris spew from New Zealand's most active volcano cone, 70% of which is underwater, according to New Zealand volcano agency GeoNet. It has erupted frequently over the last half-century, most recently in 2016.
Image: Reuters/SCH
Hospitalized
Injured tourists are ferried into waiting ambulances ready to transport them to several hospitals including Whakatane, Tauranga, Middlemore and Auckland City, following the eruption.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/NZME/K. Shanls
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Sydney brothers die in hospital
The volcano erupted on Monday afternoon, spewing plumes of scorching ash thousands of meters into the air. There were 47 people on the island at the time.
Twenty-four of those were from Australia, nine from the United States, five from New Zealand, four from Germany, two each from China and Britain and one from Malaysia.
Sydney high school Knox Grammar named the latest two fatalities as brothers Matthew and Berend Hollander. In a statement, the school said the deaths were a "devastating loss for our community," adding that the boys' parents were still unaccounted for.
Recovery teams on standby
Volcanologist Nico Fournier said there was a 50%-60% chance of another eruption on the island on Thursday.
He said any recovery teams sent there could be "pummeled to death" by flying rocks in the event of another eruption, or exposed to ash and poisonous gases in temperatures exceeding hundreds of degrees Celsius.
"We're talking about very high speed, high impact, high temperature," he told reporters. "The situation remains highly volatile."
People have left tributes to the victims of the volcano eruption at Whakatane's waterfrontImage: picture alliance/AP/M. Baker
Shortage of skin
Meanwhile, New Zealand hospital staff have been working around the clock to treat survivors who suffered serious burns.
The country's burn units have had to import an extra 120 square meters (186,000 square inches) of skin from Australia and the United States for grafting onto patients.
Privately owned White Island — also known by its Maori name Whakaari — is a popular tourist attraction. Located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off New Zealand's North Island, it draws more than 10,000 visitors each year.
Fire and ashes: Most troublesome volcanos of our time
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Image: Reuters/T. Sylvester
Remember Eyjafjallajökull?
The Icelandic volcano with a famously unpronounceable name erupted in 2010, throwing up a massive cloud of ash into the air and disrupting air traffic all across Europe and North Atlantic. A total of 100,000 flights were canceled within one week.
Image: AP
Mount Etna: Europe's biggest volcano
The snow-covered volcano in Sicily, Mount Etna, is both Europe's largest and its most active volcano. It has been continuously erupting for centuries with more or less intensity. At least 10 people were injured when Etna suddenly launched volcanic rocks and steam in 2017.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/S. Allegra
Trouble in Bali paradise
Indonesia's Mount Agung erupted in November 2017 and again in June 2018. Both eruptions prompted authorities to close down the airport in the tourist resort, effectively stranding thousands of visitors.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto/N. Budhiana
Panic and death in Guatemala
The sudden eruption of Guatemala's Volcan de Fuego in June 2018 left hundreds dead or missing. The volcano also launched ash nearly six kilometers (four miles) into the sky, blanketing nearby villages.
Image: Reuters/L. Echeverria
Kilauea - the rage of Pele
Hawaii's ancient religion names the goddess Pele as the ruler of volcanoes and fire. One of the volcanoes under her command is Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island, which has been erupting since 1983. The eruptions escalated in 2018, with walls of moving lava swallowing streets and destroying hundreds of homes.
