The Whakaari-White Island volcano, off the coast of Whakatāne in the Bay of Plenty, erupted on December 9, 2019, killing 22 people and seriously injuring 25.
Frightening footage of the Whakaari White Island disaster shot by victims of the eruption has been shared at the coronial inquest this afternoon.
Footage showed a group on the island noticing the eruption and scrambling up an embankment to get away before they are engulfed in black plumes.
The Bay of Plenty volcano, off the coast of Whakatāne, erupted on December 9, 2019, killing 22 people and seriously injuring 25.
Today is day two of the inquest, which began last week.
Detective Sergeant Simon Nolan was the first person to give evidence and this afternoon shared an interactive timeline of how the day’s tragedy unfolded.
The 3D mapping shared by Nolan predominantly used pictures, videos and statements from survivors, as well as GPS information and CCTV.
Passengers left their cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, which had berthed in Tauranga, and travelled to White Island where they climbed onto the jetty.
Eerie visuals showed tourists and guides exploring the island ahead of the explosion.
Images from group one on the island showed members taking photos and videos as the eruption began.
Nolan said the group had 45 seconds from when they were alerted by their guide and when the black clouds of pyroclastic density current (PDC) hit them.
Footage was also shared from the group closer to the volcanic lake, labelled as group two. In one short clip, one of the guides told the group to “run”.
Nolan said police chose to only share short videos of the incident due to stress, alarm and the audio being “quite harrowing”.
Earlier today, Coroner Marcus Elliott warned the hearing in the Newmarket Court Hearing Centre would be “confronting”.
“Always bear in mind the pain and the loss, resulting from that day, and the impact it had on everyone involved,” he said.
This phase of the inquest will look at issues including the emergency response, issues relating to those left on the island, and the cause of deaths.
The second phase will address regulatory oversight of tours to Whakaari, risk mitigation, possible actions following risk increases and communication of risk.
Comments and recommendations will also be made in phase two.
A bereaved family member today told the hearing she carried the loss of her relative every day.
Part of her, she said, died when they died.
“Grieving never goes away,” she said this morning.
The woman said she had so many unanswered questions, especially for the tourist operators.
“I hope these questions can be answered through the inquest.”
Suppression orders mean the woman and her relative cannot be named.
Tears fell as she stood delivering her statement.
“The real impact and consequences of the eruption is that there will be no new memories [with her relative].”
Her comments brought to an end the personal statements from survivors in the opening of phase one of the inquest.
Anna Pollett, counsel for New Zealand Police, stated that there were issues related to communication during the response.
She said these were due to the remote area where the eruption occurred, technical communication delays with Hato Hone St John and the use of police cellphones reducing the amount of information received over radio.
She said the communication delays with St John resulted in co-ordinates that were different between the emergency organisations’ systems.
The decision by St John to set up base at the Whakatāne Airport when patients were arriving at the port was something Pollet said she would not comment on, but told the inquest it would be something to explore.
Pollet said that those involved in the response were doing their best with the resources available to them.
Craig Stevens, for Hato Hone St John, said the triage centre was set up at the airport because of the number of patients with complex burns and the need for them to be distributed nationally.
Stevens said experienced front-line staff were - and remain - profoundly impacted by what they encountered in the incident.
He said the event was “unparalleled” in terms of burn injuries and staff worked “tirelessly” throughout.
For the impacted families, he said: “Any mortality is devastating and has profound and lasting impacts”.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) lawyer Dr Jonathan Coates said the medical response to the eruption was “extraordinary”.
He thanked the families for their acknowledgment of the medical staff’s work and said no Health NZ staff had their conduct in the response called into question.
This phase of the hearing is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Media are subject to extensive suppression orders and hearing updates can only be shared at the lunch adjournment and after each day’s session ends.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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