On Monday, December the 9th, the White Island volcano in New Zealand erupted and plummeted ash all over the island. During the eruption, tourists from a nearby cruise ship were exploring the volcano as an on-land excursion. Caught in the volcanic eruption, the death toll has reached 6, with around 30 being treated for burns in the hospital, and 8 more tourists reported missing.

  The eruption launched volcanic ash around 12,000 feet into the air, and high temperatures caused severe burns to all in the volcano’s vicinity, reported the Washington Post in the article, “‘No signs of life’ on New Zealand’s White Island following deadly volcanic eruption”. Rescue operations for the survivors have been slowed by the thick ash in the air in the surrounding regions, causing nearby airports to ground all activity. 

  A main concern for the New Zealand government is why the tourists were allowed on the island in the first place. Professor Raymond Cas, a volcano expert from Monash University, says he believes it was “not acceptable to allow the general public to walk on the floor of a major explosive volcanic crater like that,” particularly because of the high level of geothermal activity that it’s been showing, according to the CNN article, “Volcanologist describes what it would have been like on the island when the volcano erupted”.

 According to the same Washington Post article, the public is calling for criminal investigations into the private owners of the island, the tourism company that organized the excursion, as well as Royal Cruise Lines, the ship that many of the victims were on. The government has not yet launched any formal investigation. 

https://www.cnn.com/australia/live-news/new-zealand-volcano-live-intl/index.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/12/10/new-zealand-volcano/