Volcano Eruption in NZ - Cruise Ship Passengers Killed

[Jim_Iain]

Just watching the news and heard a volcano erupted  at White Island, Tauranga.    They are reporting that cruise passengers have been injured and killed and that Ovation of the Sea will remain in port for the next 24 hours.    Full details are very sketchy at this time.

 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12292334

[Phxazzcruisers]

Yes, this is extremely sad.

[Jim_Iain]

Latest I am hearing is there were less than 50 people on the island at the time of eruption but rescue workers unable to go onto island due to continuing eruptions. 

[Pantheral]

Sailed past the island during our February cruise. It looked pretty desolate, so i was surprised to learn that there were tours to it. Also sounds like there has been some geological activity there recently, so it is unfortunate these tours had not been suspended...Very unfortunate for all involved

[PTC DAWG]

More info on the Royal Board, if anyone is interested.  

[hulamoon]

It is very sad. I lived next to an active volcano for years and over time science became better at threat level warnings and safety. When people died they knew they were at risk. There must have been something different in this case.

 

 

[RealBatman]

30 to 38 passengers were on the island, plus the people conducting the tours (including a helicopter, which was destroyed). Estimated no more than 50. There were 23 people rescued, many burned. No other life has been seen by surveillance aircraft and drones. (source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/dec/09/new-zealand-volcano-tourists-injured-and-missing-after-eruption-on-white-island-live)

[Purplsmurf]

I saw a tweet with pictures from a passenger who said that 20 minutes before the eruption they were there, but their tour had fortunately left. Their tour boat was picking up injured people on the way back to the ship.

[missm]

We were in Tauranga a month ago on the Solstice and there were both boat and helicopter tours offered to White Island. The tour descriptions stated that you were going to be hiking around a caldera and active vents. You would also need to wear a gas mask since there are all sorts of noxious fumes associated with the volcano. Still, people went on the tours knowing the risks. We did not hear anything onboard about seismic activity warnings, but assume that the tour operators were well aware of those readings and monitored them daily.  We feel so bad for those who died and terrible as well for those who suffered awful burns and other injuries on their tour. I can't imagine why RCCL/Celebrity thought it was a good idea to offer tours to an active volcano in the first place.

[Pushka]

5 people are confirmed dead and another 11 people missing. Presumably from Ovation of the Seas Excursion. Many injured with bad burns. The one person identified as being killed was the Tour Guide. Seems most were Australians. 

[hcat]

Sorry to hear this  terrible news...

Prayers for the deceased and the survivors, and all the affected  families...

[RICCruisers]

We have had a report that a local couple (Richmond Virginia) were on their honeymoon and involved in the eruption. RCI called one of the parents to check if they had heard from the couple. The other set of parents received a voicemail that said they had been burned and taken to a hospital. One report indicated the VM was from the son, but another report did not say who the VM was from. Both parents have been trying to get more information, but are not having any success. 

 

Please say say a little prayer for the newlyweds - Matthew and Lauren Urey. 

[Pushka]

12 minutes ago, RICCruisers said:

We have had a report that a local couple (Richmond Virginia) were on their honeymoon and involved in the eruption. RCI called one of the parents to check if they had heard from the couple. The other set of parents received a voicemail that said they had been burned and taken to a hospital. One report indicated the VM was from the son, but another report did not say who the VM was from. Both parents have been trying to get more information, but are not having any success. 

 

Please say say a little prayer for the newlyweds - Matthew and Lauren Urey. 

According to the Red Cross website they are still listed as missing but that info may not have been updated. 
 

https://familylinks.icrc.org/new-zealand/en/Pages/search-persons.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0zUyS8uNsI1nydjrjHqSUuVoeGsizBuGccVWmkN19tMLvsKADc6Dh9rRo

Saying a prayer for their safe recovery. 😓

Edited December 9, 2019 by Pushka

[RICCruisers]

Hopefully some good news. The TV Show Inside Edition played the voicemail from Matthew saying he had severe burns. No mention of Lauren on the VM, but the reporter said she was also identified in the hospital also with burns on 25 % of her body. 

 

At at least they appear to have been found at the hospital. As I’m sure you know, burns can be life threatening even if you survive the initial incident. Keep up the prayers. 

[miched]

It is very sad that people end up being killed while enjoying being in a vacation.

 

In reality a life is a life and it shouldn’t really make a difference if they are on a vacation or are the residents.

 

Very sad that it happened

 

You never know the time so be prepared.   Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. 

 

Pray that God has mercy on their souls and helps their family deal with the loss.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

 

 

[Muffinz]

the Volcano in question is 'White Island' about 49kms off the coast from Whakatane (Bay of Plenty)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whakaari/White_Island

 

the latest reports is that 47 people were on the island at the time of the eruption (2:11pm local NZ time)
38 People were rescued from the Island and 5 of those people were unfortunately deceased

the rest were taken to hospitals in Whakatane, Tauranga and Auckland and 3 were discharged last night

unfortunately a number of these people have serious burns.

8 people remain unaccounted for at this stage and it is feared they were stuck on the island and unable to be rescued

If this is the case they will have unfortunately perished by now due to the high level of Sulphur Dioxide that the volcano emits

 

This is very sad indeed

[NCHPcruiser]

I have been following this and it is so sad.  My prayers have been with all impacted by this tragedy.  

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, RICCruisers said:

Hopefully some good news. The TV Show Inside Edition played the voicemail from Matthew saying he had severe burns. No mention of Lauren on the VM, but the reporter said she was also identified in the hospital also with burns on 25 % of her body. 

 

At at least they appear to have been found at the hospital. As I’m sure you know, burns can be life threatening even if you survive the initial incident. Keep up the prayers. 

That is good news. The burns sound severe. They will need a lot of recovery time and treatment. 

[Pushka]

4 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

We have had a report that a local couple (Richmond Virginia) were on their honeymoon and involved in the eruption. RCI called one of the parents to check if they had heard from the couple. The other set of parents received a voicemail that said they had been burned and taken to a hospital. One report indicated the VM was from the son, but another report did not say who the VM was from. Both parents have been trying to get more information, but are not having any success. 

 

Please say say a little prayer for the newlyweds - Matthew and Lauren Urey. 

The couple are making news websites in Australia. Latest update:

 

Mrs Barham said Lauren is recovering at Auckland Hospital and Matthew was airlifted to a hospital in Christchurch for treatment of burns that affect about 80 per cent of his body.

 

 

This is paywalled on Adelaide now.com.au.
 

Three people from Adelaide in South Australia, a Lawyer and his partner and teenage daughter are still missing and presumed dead. 

[Beanb41]

5 people are confirmed dead and 8 are missing. At the news conference this afternoon police said that it is too dangerous to go back onto White Island but flyovers indicate 6 bodies. The Ovation of the Seas will spend another night alongside as the Police this afternoon have instituted this event as a criminal investigation.

[BigAl94]

I struggle to comprehend how any responsible cruise line would facilitate an excursion of this nature assuming that they did as opposed to passengers directly purchasing this trip from a third party agency. Can't Imagine it would be covered by travel insurance. A dreadful state of affairs the outcome of which sadly will inevitably get worse.

[Scottygirl1]

4 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

I struggle to comprehend how any responsible cruise line would facilitate an excursion of this nature assuming that they did as opposed to passengers directly purchasing this trip from a third party agency. Can't Imagine it would be covered by travel insurance. A dreadful state of affairs the outcome of which sadly will inevitably get worse.

 

This trip to White Island has been popular for many years without incident.  I know many people who have done this but I too struggle with it being an excursion.  I seriously don't think people realised the potential danger.  It's a dreadful tragedy.

[upwarduk]

17 hours ago, missm said:

We did not hear anything onboard about seismic activity warnings, but assume that the tour operators were well aware of those readings and monitored them daily. 

I have read that they are unable to predict when the volcano would erupt, as it was water based not lava based. 

[Muffinz]

5 hours ago, Scottygirl1 said:

 

This trip to White Island has been popular for many years without incident.  I know many people who have done this but I too struggle with it being an excursion.  I seriously don't think people realised the potential danger.  It's a dreadful tragedy.

This is correct, and my understanding is that White Island Tours get all passengers to sign a wavier saying they accept that they are going to an 'active' volcano...etc... This tour company has been successfully doing tours to White Island for many years without incident and this is a complete tragedy for all involved

the 'Alert level' on White Island was raised to 2 about a month ago - it's on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being safest and 5 being catastrophic.

Many people were criticizing the tour company for allowing people to go onto the volcano when the alert level had been raised, but an expert said that people still go skiing on Mt Ruapehu (Central North Island in NZ) when the alert level is raised to 2

 

An update on the events

One further person died last night as a result of their injuries and they believe 21 people are still in Hospital - some with severe burns.

 

Ovation of the Seas left the port of Tauranga at 7am this morning (Wednesday NZ time) and will be cutting the rest of the cruise short. It was supposed to continue to Wellington / Picton / Christchurch / Dunedin / Fiordland before returning to Sydney, but my understanding is they are continuing on to Wellington and Picton, then returning to Sydney.

[RealBatman]

8 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

 

the 'Alert level' on White Island was raised to 2 about a month ago - it's on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being safest and 5 being catastrophic.

Many people were criticizing the tour company for allowing people to go onto the volcano when the alert level had been raised, but an expert said that people still go skiing on Mt Ruapehu (Central North Island in NZ) when the alert level is raised to 2

 

 

The news in North America is reporting the alert level was raised to 4 a week ago.