Tourists received no health and safety warnings before they landed on New Zealand’s most active volcano ahead of an eruption that killed 22 people, a prosecutor says.
There were 47 people on White Island, the tip of an undersea volcano also known by its Maori name Whakaari, when superheated steam erupted on December 9, 2019. Most of the 25 people who survived were severely burned.
The island’s owners, brothers Andrew, James and Peter Buttle, their company Whakaari Management Ltd. and tour operators I.D. Tours NZ Ltd. and Tauranga Tourism Services Ltd. went on trial on Tuesday in Auckland District Court for allegedly failing to adequately protect tourists and staff….