It has been a little over a week since the deadly explosion at New Zealand’s Whakaari (White Island). The death toll has now reached 16, with victims ranging in age from 13 to 53. Almost all the bodies have been recovered from the island, but at least 2 victims still remain missing.
The island remains highly unstable. GNS Science, a New Zealand company that monitors the volcano, has kept the island on Alert Level 3 since the blast and very few people have been allowed on the island. Even search crews are only allowed brief periods on the island for fear of new blasts occurring. Flights observing the crater show very active steam vents, small explosions from pools of water and a coating of grey ash across much of the active crater. These restrictions have already begun to impact fishermen and tour operations in the Bay of Plenty and local officials are calling for tours not to be banned from the island.
