A seventeenth person has died following the Whakaari/White Island eruption earlier this month.
The person died in Middlemore Hospital last night. Police were advised of the death shortly before 11pm.
The death of this person brings the official number of deceased to 17 following the eruption on December 9. Sixteen have died in New Zealand and one in Australia.
Two other people remain unaccounted for following the eruption, with searches having restarted yesterday for the pair following days of bad weather.
Local iwi Ngāti Awa extended its rāhui on the search area this morning, TVNZ’s Nicole Bremner reports. (Source: Other)
It is presumed the bodies of 40-year-old tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman and 17-year-old Australian tourist Winona Langford were washed out to sea.
Mark Inman told Breakfast the family is still trying to keep positive after the presumed death of Hayden Marshall-Inman. (Source: Other)
Police put out a request over the weekend for public assistance if they find a body in the water or along the coast.
Two of the Whakatāne tour company's guides died in the eruption, with others seriously injured. (Source: Other)
“What we say to members of the public is if they come across something that's been washed up or on the shoreline, to ring 111 ... to identify the location especially and we'll get someone there as quick as possible,” superintendent Andy McGregor said.
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