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New Zealand Recovers 6 Bodies From Volcanic Island in High-Risk Mission

Reuters

   WHAKATANE/WELLINGTON - A New Zealand military team recovered six bodies
   Friday from the volcanic island that fatally erupted earlier this week,
   in a high-risk operation watched by dozens of grieving family members
   waiting on the mainland.

   Military personnel worked as quickly as possible after using
   helicopters to land on White Island, which experts have said still has
   a 50-60% chance of another eruption in the coming hours.

   Six of the eight bodies on the island were successfully retrieved and
   taken to a naval patrol vessel for transfer to the mainland for
   disaster victim identification, New Zealand police said.

   Officials in Australia, where the six victims were from, said time
   limits on the risky operation had prevented the recovery team from
   locating and removing the other two bodies.

   "It has been an incredibly difficult operation but it has been such a
   priority," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Australian
   Broadcasting Radio Corp on Friday morning. "We just want to bring loved
   ones home."

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