22 dead on Whakaari

Volcanic eruption: survivors receive compensation

Relatives of the victims of the 2019 volcanic eruption on White Island (archive image)(Bild: AFP)

More than four years after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, relatives and survivors are receiving millions in compensation (see video above). The eruption on the volcanic island of Whakaari/White Island killed 22 people and injured 25 others.

"Very few were able to escape the eruption without serious injury. For the others, the suffering was immense. There is no way to measure the emotional suffering that survivors and affected families have endured and will continue to endure," the judge said at the sentencing on Friday. The money could only be a symbolic recognition.

The District Court in Auckland decided that the 47 affected families should receive ten million New Zealand dollars (equivalent to 5.6 million euros) as compensation. The island's owner, Whakaari Management and White Island Tours - the company that brought visitors to the island by boat - must pay the lion's share. The helicopter operator Volcanic Air Safaris must pay a smaller share.

Relatives of the victims of the 2019 volcanic eruption on White Island (archive image)(Bild: AFP)

Fire mountain was increasingly active
The volcanic eruption occurred in December 2019. The mountain of fire had already been increasingly active beforehand, but boats carrying tourists kept coming to the island. Among the dead were visitors from Australia, China, Malaysia, the USA, the UK and Germany.

New Zealand is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, the most geologically active zone on earth. Whakaari/White Island is considered the most active volcano in the Pacific state, and it also erupted fatally in 1914.