- Title: New Zealand body recovery mission underway
- Date: 12th December 2019
- Summary: WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND (DECEMBER 13, 2019) (REUTERS) HELICOPTER FLYING
- Embargoed: 26th December 2019 22:44
- Keywords: New Zealand White Island eruption natural disaster volcano
- Location: WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND
- City: WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND
- Country: New Zealand
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami
- Reuters ID: LVA002B9OACZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A New Zealand military team landed on a volcanic island on Friday (December 13) morning to recover the bodies of eight people killed in an eruption this week, and police said the high-risk operation was going smoothly but slowly amid the risk of a fresh eruption.
The weather, sea state and conditions on the island were all good, he said, but the operation was taking longer than expected due to the protective equipment the recovery team was wearing.
A blessing was held at sea with the victims' families before the mission was launched.
There were 47 people on the island at the time of the eruption. Twenty-four of those were from Australia, nine from the United States, five from New Zealand, four from Germany, two each from China and Britain and one from Malaysia.
(Production: Cordelia Hsu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None