Specialist teams hope to recover last 2 volcano victims

WHAKATANE, New Zealand — Specialist teams were due to return to New Zealand’s volcanic White Island today to resume a land search for the bodies of two victims of an eruption which has now claimed 15 lives.

Two four-person teams wearing protective clothing and using breathing apparatuses were to land on the island by helicopter early morning in the hope of finding the bodies which have not been located since the island erupted Dec. 9.

“They will be wearing the same protective clothing as the eight New Zealand Defence Force personnel who were on the island on Friday,” Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said.

“However, their breathing apparatus will be different, meaning they will only be able to stay on the island for up to 75 minutes. “We remain committed to finishing the task at hand and returning the two remaining bodies to their loved ones,” he added.

While scientists said the possibility of a second eruption appeared to have receded, White Island remains “highly volatile.”

Police said the toll from the eruption has risen to 15 with the death in hospital on Saturday night of a severely burned victim.

For the first time police have released the name of one of the dead.

She was Krystal Browitt, a veterinary nursing student from Melbourne, Australia, who turned 21 on Nov. 29.

Police divers worked in near zero visibility in contaminated waters around White Island Saturday to find the remaining two victims of the eruption that left dozens severely burned.

Ash and other fallout from the eruption has made the sea near the island toxic and divers have to be washed clean after every completed dive. Tims called search conditions “unique and challenging.”