NZ - White Island Volcano kicks off

100 people on or around it

:(

Non confirmed reports it turned a helicopter upside down and dumped it

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118...-bay-of-plenty

Quote:

Injuries reported as White Island volcano erupts in the Bay of Plenty Up to 100 people may have been on White Island when it erupted, spewing plumes of smoke into the air on Monday. The TECT Rescue helicopter and the Waikato Westpac Helicopter have been dispatched to White Island and are responding to initial reports of 100 people on the island at the time of the eruption. A St John spokesperson said they had reports of up to 20 people injured after the island in Bay of Plenty erupted, sending massive plumes of steam and debris into the air. The volcano erupted around 2.30pm, with Geonet raising the alert level to four. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was late to her regular Monday post cabinet press conference as she was seeking advice on what was happening at White Island. "Police search and rescue are supporting the emergency management crews," she said. "At this stage, we believe 100 people were on or around the island. "Some of these people are unaccounted for. This is evolving at this stage ... obviously it does appear to be a very significant issue." The Whakatane Beacon reported that the first boatload of injured had arrived in Whakatāne. Families of passengers had gathered at the cordon awaiting news. Meanwhile a TECT Rescue helicopter spokeswoman said that their helicopters hadn't arrived at the island yet "because it's so dangerous". "They're just trying to figure out how they can get the helicopters in. And how close we can get without it being very unsafe for our crew." St John confirmed that they are working with the Coastguard and the local DHB and had sent one ambulance crew to the island. There are five helicopters that have been dispatched - onboard one helicopter is St John Clinical Director Dr Tony Smith who will set up a triage on the Island. An image captured at 2.10pm from a GNS camera showed people were on the island at the time of the eruption. GNS duty volcanologist Geoff Kilgour expressed concern for their safety. "Our monitoring data shows that there was a short-lived eruption that generated an ash plume to 12,000ft above the vent," he said in a statement. "Ash has covered the main crater floor as seen in our webcam images. Ash fall appears to be confined to the island and we do not expect more than a minor amount of ash to reach East Cape in the coming hours." GNS monitoring equipment was still operating, and there had been a steady decline in activity since the eruption. "There remains significant uncertainty as to future changes but currently, there are no signs of escalation.".........

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