Injuries reported as volcano erupts

At least one person has been critically injured, and many more are still missing, after White Island erupted, spewing plumes of smoke into the air yesterday.

Up to 100 people were initially believed to be on or near the island at the time of the eruption around 2.30pm, but police now believe there were fewer than 50.

‘‘Some of those people have been transported to shore, however a number believed to be on the island are currently unaccounted for,’’ police said in a statement.

Of those transported to nearby Whakata¯ ne, in the Bay of Plenty, at least one was critically injured.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was late to her regular Monday post Cabinet press conference as she was seeking advice on White Island.

‘‘Police search and rescue are supporting the emergency management crews,’’ she said.

‘‘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 arrived in Whakata¯ne late afternoon. Families of passengers had gathered at the cordon awaiting news.

It is understood passengers from the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship, currently visiting Tauranga, were among those visiting White Island at the time of the eruption.

A spokeswoman for Royal Carribean Cruises, Annie Standen, would not confirm if passengers were involved but said a representative from Ovation of the Seas was at the cordon.

She was was not able to confirm whether or how many passengers were injured.

‘‘At this stage we are still gathering information.’’

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 it was working with the Coastguard and the local DHB and had sent one ambulance crew to the island.

Five helicopters had been dispatched – onboard one helicopter was St John clinical director Dr Tony Smith who planned to 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 vulcanologist 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.

‘‘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.