A trial opened Tuesday over New Zealand’s 2019 White Island volcanic eruption, a “massive explosion” that engulfed tourists and killed 22 people, while leaving others horribly burned.
About 50 people, mostly tourists from Australia, were on White Island – also known as Whakaari – in December 2019 when a deadly column of burning ash and steam erupted from a volcanic vent.
The eruption off the coast of the country’s North Island claimed 22 lives and left dozens more with horrific injuries, sparking a massive medical operation that saw victims treated in burn units in New Zealand and Australia.
Video footage played in the courtroom showed people trying to flee from a huge, expanding cloud of volcanic ash, which quickly engulfed them.
In one clip, a guide spotted the billowing eruption and yelled at tourists to “get back to their boat quickly.” Some stumbled in their desperation to flee.
Tourists sat on a boat watching the volcano eruption on White Island, New Zealand, in December 2019
About 50 people, mostly tourists from Australia, were on White Island in December 2019 when a deadly column of burning ash and steam erupted from a volcanic vent.
“This volcanic eruption was accompanied by a huge explosion,” prosecutor Kristy McDonald told Auckland District Court.
It resulted in a stream of “red-hot ash, red-hot sea, toxic volcanic ash and rocks projected across the crater floor,” she added.
“The pyroclastic flow engulfed everyone on the volcano at estimated speeds of about 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph).”
Six parties, including two tour companies and the island’s owners, Whakaari Management Limited, have been charged with breaching health and safety regulations in the run-up to the disaster. They deny wrongdoing.
McDonald said the island’s family owners were making about NZ$1 million (£480,000) a year before disaster struck.
“They took advantage of every tourist brought to Whakaari,” she told the court.
But the island’s management has failed to make adequate risk assessments, provide personal protective equipment or guarantee evacuation routes, she said.
“The end result was that tourists and workers went to the crater of an active volcano without being properly informed about the risks involved,” McDonald added.
The charges do not carry a prison sentence, but parties found guilty could face fines of up to NZ$1.5 million (£720,000).
The process is expected to take several weeks.
A tourist at the time said he and his family were on the volcano just 20 minutes before it erupted and witnessed the blast as they left the island
An aerial view of the volcano shows thick clouds of smoke rising from the crater, which has been a permanent feature of the island for decades
Whakaari, also known as White Island, located 48 km (29 mi) off New Zealand’s North Island, erupted around 2:11 p.m. local time on December 9, 2019, sending large plumes of smoke and debris 12,000 feet into the air
White Island, 30 miles (48 km) from the Bay of Plenty region, began erupting around 2:11 p.m. local time on December 9, 2019
Another six companies have already pleaded guilty to health and safety charges, including three helicopter tour operators who filed pleas at 11am on Friday.
Among those who previously pleaded guilty were White Island Tours, which took 21 of the dead – 19 tourists and two staff members – to the volcanic site by boat.
Volcanic Air Safaris, which flew in a tourist who died on the island, has also pleaded guilty.
In May last year, a judge cleared New Zealand’s emergency management agency of health and safety breaches.
No boat or plane tours have been allowed to land on the island since the eruption.