A close family member of a tour guide who died in the Whakaari White Island eruption in 2019 has given an emotional statement at the inquest into the deaths, saying there remained many unanswered questions from bereaved families — particularly for the tour operators.
Forty-seven people were on the volcano in the Bay of Plenty, 48 kilometres from the east coast of the North Island, when it erupted in December 2019, killing 22 and seriously injuring 25.
The coronial inquest aims to re-establish the facts of the case and make findings and recommendations to prevent similar disasters.
It comes after a criminal prosecution by WorkSafe in 2024 that resulted in convictions of Whakaari Management Ltd (WML) — the company that charged tour operators licensing fees for each visitor to the island — three tour and helicopter operators, and the Institute of Geological Nuclear Sciences (GNS).
However, WML's conviction was quashed on a later appeal.
A family member of Hayden Marshall-Inman, who had worked as a tour guide for White Island Tours, said their heart still carried the loss every day.
"We lose part of our identity when someone we love dies … I know I have, and there's no way to avoid that."
They said there were still many unanswered questions, especially for the operators around risk assessments and safety concerns, they hoped could be answered through the inquest.
They said they were frustrated with some of the communications following the eruption — including having to find out about the death through the media and the impact that is had on their grieving.
Agencies involved in emergency response give opening statements
Police, Hato Hone St John Ambulance, Health New Zealand, Fire and Emergency and WorkSafe were among a range of agencies involved in the emergency response to the disaster that had given their opening statements at the inquest, welcoming the coroner and families' scrutiny into their response and what could have been done better.
Anna Pollett, the lawyer for the police, said she hoped the process looking into what worked and what did not work in the response could provide some healing for the survivors and families.
She said their evidence would look at resourcing available in the Whakatane region at the time, and the challenges of communication in a remote area and issues with mobile coverage.
Ms Pollett said they would also be looking into the delays in communication between agencies, and technology access issues — including that police had no access to marine radio or aviation lines.
Decisions made by emergency responders around not going back to the island — after police received information that there were no survivors left on the island — will also be looked at, said Ms Pollet, as she acknowledged the deep impact that decision had on those whose loved ones' bodies were left on the island only to be retrieved a week later.
The lawyer representing St John Ambulance, Craig Stevens, said the suffering of the survivors and the mass casualties from the eruption was unprecedented since the eruption of Mt Tarawera, on New Zealand's North Island, in 1886.
He said the events imposed an "extreme demand" on the responders, where there were many victims with complex burns, a scarcity of accurate information about the eruption at the time, and the fact that Whakatane Hospital did not have the resources to deal with the volume of patients — which is why a triage centre was set up at Whakatane Airport so that patients could be distributed nationally.
Mr Stevens said they would be calling evidence, including an Auckland doctor, a Whakatane-based paramedic and staff at the Auckland ambulance centre who would talk about the coordination in the response.
He said while there were concerns raised around the adequacy of St John's response, the agency considered that none of its actions had impacted adversely on survivorship.
"Despite that, [St John is] a professional organisation, it seeks continual improvement, it's open to any views that requires it to review its practices," Mr Stevens added.
Lawyer assisting coroner: scope of inquiry
The coronial inquiry, over the next eight weeks, will be zooming in on the events of the day of the disaster, and the emergency and medical response to the eruption.
Forty-nine witnesses will be giving evidence, including survivors and eyewitnesses to the eruption, civilians who assisted with the response, and official responders.
One of the lawyers assisting the coroner, Christina Twyman, said the key issues for the inquest are how those injured and died came to be on the island on December 9, 2019, what happened before, during and after the eruption, and the coordination of the emergency response.
She said questions will be asked around why decisions were made to stand down or limit responders, and whether those decisions contributed to any deaths.
The communication within and between key agencies, and any delays in communications and support sent will be also be looked at, Ms Twyman said.
She said they'll also be asking questions about the decision to cease rescue efforts, and the circumstances of the deaths of the eight people left on the island.
The fact that there was no official air response immediately following the eruption would also be questioned. "Who had authority for and actually made decisions that led to no official landing on Whakaari until several hours after the eruption?" Ms Twyman said.
Inquiry showed 3D map, videos and photos from day of eruption
The inquiry was also shown a 3D simulated map of Whakaari White Island, along with key locations, videos and photos taken on the day of the eruption, as Detective Sergeant Simon Nolan, one of the first responders, gave an overview of the sequence of events on December 9, 2019.
CCTV footage and videos of the cruise passengers arriving at Whakatane, and their journey to Whakaari were also shown.
Some of the videos showed the tourists on rubber boats getting off at the decrepit and rudimentary jetty — the only access point on and off the island.
Other videos showed the rugged terrain of the island, with ropes installed to guide people through the walks, and tourists being given a brief safety briefing where they are shown how to put on masks.
This story was originally published by Radio New Zealand.
