Five dead, 8 missing after volcano eruption off New Zealand coast leaves 'no signs of life' on White Island

Unstable conditions hampered rescue workers Tuesday from searching for at least eight people missing and feared dead after a volcano off the New Zealand coast erupted Whakatane: Unstable conditions hampered rescue workers Tuesday from searching for at least eight people missing and feared dead after a volcano off the New Zealand coast erupted in a towering blast of ash and scalding steam while dozens of tourists explored its moon-like surface. “It would’ve been quite traumatic for them.” White Island, also known by the indigenous Maori name Whakaari, is the tip of an undersea volcano some 30 miles off mainland New Zealand. Ardern said White Island is a “very unpredictable volcano,” and questions about whether tourists should be visiting will have to be addressed, “but for now, we’re focused on those who are caught up in this horrific event.” Brad Scott, a volcanologist with research group GNS Science, said the alert level on White Island is often raised and then dropped without any eruption. “There would have been nowhere safe for you to be hiding, thinking that: ‘Oh well, if it explodes, it just goes straight up in the air.’” White Island is New Zealand’s most active cone volcano.