Divers are searching contaminated water for the bodies of two people killed in the White Island volcanic eruption in New Zealand.
Police said the team faced ‘unique and challenging’ conditions on Saturday in their mission to find the bodies, believed to be those of tour guides Hayden Marshall-Inman and Tipene Maangi.
A total of 47 people were on the island when the volcano erupted on Monday, firing out jets of scalding steam.
Sixteen people are believed to have died in the eruption, with 14 of them Australian citizens or permanent residents.
It is reported a helicopter spotted Mr Marshall-Inman running back to help tourists after the eruption.
Six bodies were recovered on Friday in a dangerous four-hour mission, but the operation to find two more bodies began on Friday despite ongoing warnings of further activity from the volcano.
Deputy Commissioner John Tims, National Operations Commander, said: ‘The water around the island is contaminated, requiring the divers to take extra precautions to ensure their safety, including using specialist protective equipment.
‘Divers have reported seeing a number of dead fish and eels washed ashore and floating in the water. Each time they surface, the divers are decontaminated using fresh water.’
One of the bodies was spotted in the water close to the island by rescue teams on Tuesday, the day after the eruption, but conditions meant it could not be retrieved.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has now called for a minute’s silence on Monday at 2.11pm local time, a week after the eruption.
She said: ‘Wherever you are in New Zealand or around the world, this is a moment we can stand alongside those who have lost loved ones in this extraordinary tragedy.
‘Together we can express our sorrow for those who have died and been hurt and our support for their grieving families and friends.’
Deputy Commissioner John Tims, National Operations Commander, said the process of identifying bodies was ‘long and complex’, adding that it would be ‘unforgivable to get it wrong’.
It is thought 15 people are being treated in burns units in New Zealand, of whom 11 are in a critical condition.
Two British women are among those admitted to hospital, but their condition remains unknown, Counties-Manukau Health chief medical officer Dr Peter Watson said.
Those on the island at the time also included 24 Australians, nine Americans, five New Zealanders, four Germans, two Chinese and a Malaysian.
Among the dead are brothers Berend Hollander, 16, and Matthew Hollander, 13, from Sydney.
Their parents Martin and Barbara, aged 48 and 50, are currently missing and believed to be dead.
Julie Richards, 47, and her daughter Jessica, 20, from Brisbane, have also been named as victims of the eruption.
Adelaide schoolgirl Zoe Hosking, 15, and her stepfather Gavin Dallow, 53, were confirmed among the dead, while mum and wife Lisa Hosking was injured but survived.
Krystal Eve Browitt, 21, died in the eruption, while her father Paul and sister Stephanie remain in hospital with serious injuries.
Dozens of people were severely burnt in the eruption after it is believed they were hit by jets of steam bursting laterally from the volcano.
Monitoring agency GeoNet said White Island’s volcanic alert had been lowered to level two after it was briefly raised to four.
Continued volcanic activity on the island had initially prevented rescue teams starting their search.
The island is the tip of a mostly under-sea volcano, 30 miles off New Zealand’s North Island, and is visited by thousands of tourists each year.
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