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Specialists Hope to Recover Last 2 Volcano Victimsin New Zealand

Associated Press

   WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND - Specialist teams were due to return to New
   Zealand's volcanic White Island on Sunday to resume a land search for
   the bodies of two victims of an eruption that has now claimed 15 lives.

   Two four-person teams wearing protective clothing and using breathing
   apparatuses were to land on the island by helicopter early in the
   morning in the hope of finding the two bodies that have not been
   located since the island erupted December 9.

   ``They will be wearing the same protective clothing as the eight New
   ZealandDefenceForce personnel who were on the island on Friday,"Police
   Deputy Commissioner John Tims said. ``However, their breathing
   apparatus will be different, meaning they will only be able to stay on
   the island for up to 75 minutes.

   ``We remain committed to finishing the task at hand and returning the
   two remaining bodies to their lovedones,"he added.

   While scientists said the possibility of a second eruption appeared to
   have receded, White Island remained``highlyvolatile."

   Police said the toll from the eruption hadrisen to 15 with the death
   inahospital on Saturday night of a severely burned victim.

   For the first time,police released the name of one of the dead.She was
   KrystalBrowitt,21,a veterinary nursing student from Melbourne,
   Australia.

   Friday operation

   Military specialists on Friday recovered six bodies from the island in
   a carefully planned but risky operation. The bodies of the two other
   people known to have been on the island could not be located during the
   four-hour operation.

   Police divers working in near-zero visibility in contaminated waters
   aroundthe islandtriedagainSaturday to find the missing pair.Ash and
   other fallout from the eruption has made the sea near the island
   toxic,and diversmustbe washed clean after every completed dive. Tims
   called search conditions ``unique and challenging."

   ``Divers have reported seeinga number ofdead fish and eels washed
   ashore and floating in the water. Conditions in the water today are not
   optimal,with betweenzero and 2 metersvisibility,depending on
   location,"he said.

   Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on New Zealanders to observe a
   minute's silence in memory of victims of the disaster at 2:11 p.m. on
   Monday, exactly a week after the eruption. Ardern and her Cabinet will
   pause in silence during their regular meeting at Parliament in
   Wellington.

   ``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
   extraordinarytragedy,`` Ardern said. ``Together we can express our
   sorrow for those who have died and been hurt and our support for their
   grieving families andfriends."

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