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The White Island tragedy.
#1
As of yesterday there was officially 8 people dead and about 40 still unaccounted for after the volcano erupted on Monday, from memory there was about 14 people in hospital with serious injuries.. The injured people all went to Whakatane Hospital for treatment, some have since been shifted to other hospitals in Auckland, the Hutt Valley and Wellington for treatment after they were stabilised in Wakatane Hospital.. Volunteers and other search and rescue folk are flying between Whakatane and White Island in the hopes of finding the folk who were unaccounted for..

One of the sad things is that White Island is privately owned, I'm not sure if by the local Iwi or some other owner, so there wasn't any restrictions on who can and can't access the island, in my opinion there should be restrictions on who visits the island seeing it's very much an active volcano, perhaps now this sad disaster has happened our government may step in and enforce restrictions on the island..

White Island may not look very big on the surface, but in excess of two thirds of it is under water, that in my opinion makes it look a lot less dangerous than it really is.. Considering the island is very much an active volcano and always has been I'm surprised the owner/s didn't put restrictions on it when they bought it, instead it's a tourist attraction for the area, that sees a lot of people going there every year to walk round and visit the crater lake, sadly I suspect the owner/s may be more interested in making money from the island rather than worrying about peoples safety, hopefully as I say, the government may now restrict access to the island and only allow geologists and such to go there after this tragic  eruption, especially as there's no really quick way off the island should it erupt again, unfortunately in this case it can erupt with little warning..

I'll try and keep you updated as and when I hear or see more whether it be online news or TV news.. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were injued or died in this disaster.. I know our government has stepped up and is offering the families and those affected all the help they can, the injured are getting the best possible medical care our hospitals can offer.. It is in my opinion sad to think this tragedy shouldn't have happened and could've been easily avoided..
Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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#2
It looks like they mqu be rifgt about a second eruption..

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Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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#3
They revised the dead down to 6 yesterday and the unaccounted for down to 8 people.. The minister of police was saying last evening the dead are badly burned so they're waiting for dental records and such to help identify the dead people correctly.. No second eruption yet, so hopefully they can find at least soe of the missing today..
Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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#4
Dome people are found, divers went out yesterday to start looking for the last of the bodies..

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Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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#5
I believe the local maori put a tapu on the island within 48 hours of the eruption, so no one bar police and other officials are allowed out there until after the tapu is lifted.. The tapu's are usually put on and taken off by one of the elders from which ever Iwi is doing it, the locals are of course expected to respect it because of the deaf..

I haven't found out as to who owns the island as yet, I only know it's privately owned, I suspect the local Iwi may own it, but I don't know for sure.. In my opinion the island shouldn't have been open to tourists given how active it's always been, it seems someone thought it was an easy way of making money, let the local tourist operators take people there in exchange for a set fee per person going out there.. I hope after this our government stops tourisim to the island and only let geologists and such visit to do their studies into active volcanos, it's to dangerous for tourists to be there in my opinion, especially bigger groups of tourists as it takes to long to get them off safely if something happens..
Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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#6
Sadly now 16 people have died, this person was being treated in hospital..

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Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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#7
Two people still missing as of this morning, sadly the death toll has also risen..

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Love many, trust few, paddle your own waka.
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