Sixth victim has died in New Zealand volcano eruption
Dozens of people have been hospitalized and several are still missing after the eruption in New Zealand.
New Zealand has ordered 1,290 square feet of skin from the U.S. to treat the dozens of victims suffering severe burns after Monday’s volcanic eruption on White Island as surgeons continue to work around the clock in what has been described as “a war zone.”
Burns units at hospitals across the country were at full capacity treating 29 of the rescued victims, Dr. Peter Watson, chief medical officer with Counties Manukau Health, told reporters Wednesday. Twenty-two of the patients remained in critical condition and required airway support.
The unprecedented number of victims at one time and the nature of their burns complicated by the gases and chemicals released from the eruption required surgeons to work at a quicker pace than usual, Watson said, adding that recovery would take time.
"This is just the start of a very long process that, for some patients, will take several months,” he said.
In this combo made from two satellite images taken May 12, 2019, left, and Dec. 11, 2019, right, by Maxar Technologies steam rises from the volcano on White Island off the coast of Whakatane, New Zealand. (Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies via AP)
The island was crowded with 47 tourists from around the world when the eruption occurred, including 24 people from Australia, nine Americans, two from China, four from Germany, five people from New Zealand, two from the United Kingdom, and one person from Malaysia.
Rescuers rushing to the island on boats to help following the eruption have recounted horrific scenes of survivors running into the sea to escape the scalding steam and ash. Many emerged covered in burns.
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John Bonning, president of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, told the New Zealand Herald that as he wheeled patients into Waikato Hospital after the eruption he could smell sulfur on their clothing and looked on in horror as their bodies shed “bits of dead skin” and “broken ash.”
"It was awful, just horrific,” Bonning said. “Saying it was like a war zone would not be an understatement."
Search and rescue efforts have been hampered on the ash-covered island in the days since the eruption. (Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust via AP)
While 26 of the patients had burns covering at least 30 percent of their bodies, others had suffered burns to over 90 percent of their bodies, Dr. John Kenealy, clinical director of Surgery and Perioperative Services at Middlemore Hospital, told reporters.
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For reference, he said the palm of the hand makes up 1.5 percent of the skin on the human body.
Rescuers rushing to the island on boats to help following the eruption have recounted horrific scenes of survivors running into the sea to escape the scalding steam and ash. Many emerged covered in burns.
(Michael Schade via AP)
The official death toll has remained at six, while eight others listed as missing are presumed dead until rescuers can safely return to the island and resume their search – plans that were further delayed Wednesday after the volcano vented more steam and mud.
Volcanic tremors also intensified on the ash-covered island to a level not seen since an eruption in 2016, the GeoNet seismic monitoring agency said, calculating a 40 to 60 percent chance of another eruption within the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, officials were still working to identify the six confirmed dead with the help of forensic pathologists and dentists, police said.
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Officials had begun to inform families on Wednesday of the dead who have been identified. The names included Australians Julie Richards, 47, and her daughter Jessica, 20; and 53-year-old Australian Gavin Dallow, whose 15-year-old stepdaughter, Zoe, is among the missing.
Fox News' Travis Fedschun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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