A family of four from North Sydney are among the cruise ship passengers still unaccounted for after the White Island volcano in the Bay of Plenty suddenly erupted on Monday, spewing plumes of ash 3700 metres into the sky.
Aerial reconnaissance flights conducted by police had not found any signs of life since the eruption.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised the "courageous" efforts of helicopter pilots who made the deliberate decision to land on White Island soon after the eruption.Westpac Auckland Rescue Helicopter senior pilot James Tayler said he was just doing his job.Ms Ardern also acknowledged the number of Australians caught up in the tragedy."There are no two countries closer and we're devastated at what has happened here," she said."It was ...
By the time they had released the parachutes and floated down for five minutes, the plume grew exponentially: "[It looked] like a huge cloud coming up from the sea". A website set up by the New Zealand Red Cross to help connect people affected by the catastrophic volcanic eruption off the North Island has been inundated by families of the missing.
People were seeking information about loved ones from the United Kingdom, United States, China, Singapore, Bordeaux in France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Canada, Portugal, Burma, India, Papua New Guinea, and Holland.
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