After hours of meticulous planning from police, top military brass and emergency services, the mission was to land on the smouldering volcanic island, collect six bodies and make every reasonable effort to locate another two
As police and E-Squad travelled to Whakaari, as it is known locally, close family members journeyed on a White Island Tours boat to offer a traditional Maori blessing. The boat came within a kilometre of the volcano and a spiritual service was held on board, before the boat headed back to Whakatane.
Authorities had been on high alert, after warnings that the island had a 60 per cent chance of erupting again within a 24-hour period. High-level advice given to the defence force was that there was only a 6 per cent chance it could again blow. Back on the shore as the White Island Tours boat returned, the crowd had grown. They gathered in the parkland by the water, waiting for updates.
"The sighs of relief. The joy. The clapping," said NZ Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha. "They've got their loved ones coming home ... These people have been waiting patiently. To hear the news that this recovery mission had gone really well, they're absolutely ecstatic." "As a cultural thing, that's amazing, as a nation we're blessed. The Australians on the boat with us, they felt it."Credit:"We're making progress, we're moving forward, and that's all we want. We just want our loved ones back," he said."They've got the six bodies and they're off safely," one journalist replied.The future of tours to the volcano will remain divisive in town for days and weeks to come.
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