New Zealand charges 13 parties over White Island volcano deaths

New Zealand authorities filed criminal charges Monday against 10 organizations and three people in connection with the volcanic eruption on White Island, where 22 people were killed and dozens left with horrific burns last year.

Safety watchdog WorkSafe had investigated why 47 tourists were at the site in December 2019 when the eruption occurred just weeks after the threat alert level had been raised.

“This deeply tragic event was unexpected but that does not mean it was unforeseeable,” chief executive Phil Parkes Parkes said, according to Agence France-Presse.

“The victims, both workers and visitors alike, all had a reasonable expectation that they could go to the island knowing that the organizations involved had done all they were required to do to look after their health and safety,” he added.

Parkes declined to reveal who was facing charges in case the court granted them name suppression, although the identities of some were revealed through other sources.

Two tour companies said they had been charged, while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that two government agencies also were being prosecuted — GNS Science, responsible for monitoring volcanic activity, and the National Emergency Management Authority, which handles disaster planning.

“There is no easy process here but it is the job of WorkSafe to ensure that if there are questions to be answered that they lead the charge on that,” Ardern said. “It’s an independent decision for them… we really need to leave it at that.”

Parkes said the organizations could be fined up to NZ$1.5 million — about $1.1 million in US currency — with individuals facing maximum fines of NZ$300,000.

A separate probe by the coroner’s office has been running in tandem with the WorkSafe inquiry and could potentially result in more charges being recommended.

“The Chief Coroner’s inquiry into the Whakaari/White Island eruption deaths remains on hold until other agencies’ prosecutions have gone through the judicial process,” a spokesman for the coroner told AFP.

The majority of the victims were tourists from countries like Australia, the US and Malaysia who were part of a cruise ship that was traveling around New Zealand.

Of those killed, 14 were Australian, five were American, two were New Zealanders and one was from Germany.

With Post Wires