The case of a volcanic eruption in New Zealand in 2019 has been turned into a Netflix documentary.
Titled The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari and helmed by Oscar-nominated director Rory Kennedy, the film tracks the minute-by-minute unfolding of a tourist trip that ended with a volcanic eruption on an island off the coast of New Zealand, which claimed the lives of 22 people.
But what actually happened on the island, and what lessons can we learn?
The backstory
Whakaari (also known as White Island) is a small island in the Bay Of Plenty, and is an active stratovolcano; that is, a volcano that’s made up from many layers of lava from eruptions over the years. In the ‘80s, it erupted many times, and a major eruption in 2000 caused a big crater. Smaller – but not insignificant – eruptions were also recorded in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
Whakaari, privately owned by the Buttle family since 1936, was a popular day-trip for tourists, 10,000 of whom would visit each year. They arrived by boat and by helicopter from various tour operators to explore the island, and took a guided hike around the mouth of the crater.
However, in October and November 2019, geologists at GNS Science noted that increased gas (sulphur dioxide), steam and mud was being ejected from the crater on the island, and were at their highest levels since 2016. On 24 November, there was an earthquake recorded with an epicentre just 10 kilometres away from the island, and a high alert issue was released.
Despite this activity, the daily tours to the island continued, with one operator, White Island Tours, posting on their website: “Whakaari/White Island is currently on Alert Level 2. This level indicates moderate to heightened volcanic unrest, there is the potential for eruption hazards to occur. White Island Tours operates through the varying alert levels but passengers should be aware that there is always a risk of eruptive activity regardless of the alert level. White Island Tours follows a comprehensive safety plan which determines our activities on the island at the various levels.”
Netflix
The eruption
On 9 December, there were 47 people on Whakaari, and 38 of these were tourists from the cruise ship Ovation Of The Seas on a shore excursion. Alongside them were other tourists and tour guides from independent tours.
At around 2pm local time, there were two short eruptions, which sent a thick plume of boiling ash and vapour three kilometres high into the air and instantly across the island.
As the people on the island rushed to leave, only 23 people could be rescued by boat before the island was declared too unsafe. The people left on the jetty were suffering from burns and breathing difficulties, and according to The Guardian the survivors began to help each other: “Passengers handed over their jackets, as well as inhalers and eye drops. Men took off their shirts to cover passengers who were in shock. Halfway back to the mainland, a coast guard vessel met the boat and paramedics came on board.”
One person who managed to escape the island posted footage from the boat, and said: “My family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it”.
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Three commercial helicopter pilots conducted rescue missions to the island. bringing back 12 survivors, and later when it was deemed safe, returning to bring back the bodies.
In total 22 people died, while 25 people suffered injuries, the majority of which were severe burns.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at the time that “the scale of this tragedy is devastating”.
The aftermath
In an interview with 60 Minutes, St John medical director, Dr Tony Smith, said that upon reflection, rescue crews could have flown to the island much earlier than when they did – about two-and-a-half hours after the eruption: “Had we gone to the island sooner, I'm absolutely medically confident... unfortunately, we were not going to save anymore additional people.”
As reported by The Independent, Ray Cas, a professor emeritus at Monash University, said: “White Island has been a disaster waiting to happen for many years. Having visited it twice, I have always felt that it was too dangerous to allow the daily tour groups that visit the uninhabited island volcano by boat and helicopter.”
A legal case against 10 organisations who have been charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 is currently ongoing, and nine face a section 36 charge (failure to ensure the health and safety of workers and others). As reported by RNZ: “There are three individuals charged under section 44 of the Act which requires directors, or individuals with significant influence over a company to exercise due diligence that the company is meeting its health and safety obligations under the act.” All defendants have pleaded not guilty, and the case is set for court in July 2023.
There have been no tours to the island since the 2019 explosion.
As the synopsis for the film states, through stark and dramatic storytelling: “The Volcano paints a raw and honest portrait of humanity at its best, even as it faces nature at her worst.”
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari streams on Netflix from December 16.
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December 16, 2022 at 04:00PM
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