The trailer for a documentary about the Whakaari/White Island disaster, where 22 people died after a volcanic eruption, has been released by Netflix.
The film called The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari looks to document the tragedy in real-time using first-hand interviews and footage taken from on and around the island.
Netflix has described the documentary as “a minute-by-minute account of tourists caught in a tragic volcanic eruption while sightseeing on an island off New Zealand in 2019”.
“The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari celebrates the survivors, as well as the everyday people who courageously came to their rescue”, the video’s description reads.
The trailer features interviews with survivors of the disaster interspersed with footage taken during and after the eruption.
“From the description, it was a nice, easy hike - they didn’t make it sound dangerous,” one interviewee says.
“I thought, 'This is it. We’re going to die on our honeymoon',” another man says while holding his wife’s hand.
The documentary will appear on Netflix on 16 December and is directed and produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rory Kennedy. Ron Howard and Leonardo DiCaprio are executive producers on the project.
Forty-seven people were on Whakaari when it erupted on 9 December 2019. It killed 22 people and injured 25 others, with the majority suffering severe burns.
The documentary’s release comes just after the three-year anniversary of the tragedy.
Ten parties faced criminal charges after the eruption under the Health and Safety at Work Act, with a maximum fine of $1.5 million.
Whakaari owners Andrew, James and Peter Buttle were criminally charged as directors or individuals who were required to exercise due diligence to ensure the company met its health and safety obligations.
Volcanic Air, GNS Science, National Emergency Management (NEMA) and White Island Tours were among the 10 parties charged.
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