At least five dead as White Island volcano erupts in New Zealand

Five people have been reportedly dead and at least 27 people are still unaccounted for after the Volcano on New Zealand's White Island erupted on Monday. Emergency service has not been able to commence search and rescue operation because the conditions on the island remain unstable due to toxic gas and ash.

Volcano erupts in New Zealand

The Volcano erupted at 2:11pm today and the resulting plume of ash was reported to be visible from the east coast of the North Island. As of now, five people have been confirmed dead according to reports and 27 are being treated for minor injuries like burns. Of those that were rescued from the island seven are currently in critical condition and the have thus been flown to Tauranga and Auckland for further treatment. Of those to have been on the island during the eruption, some of them have confirmed to have been Australian Tourists.

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The Australian Prime Minister released a statement where he admitted that Australians had been caught up in the disaster and that Australia would offer emergency support if New Zealand needed. John Tims the deputy police commissioner of district operations has said in a statement that there are still people remaining on the island who are unaccounted for. The New Zealand military is now helping the police.

A level four alert has been issued for the volcano. The scale according to the science agency GeoNet is that the scale runs from 0-5.

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