More than four years after dozens of people were injured or killed in a devastating volcanic eruption on White Island, off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, victims and their families have received a total of around 10, 2 million New Zealand dollars, or approximately $6.2. million.
Speaking in the Auckland District Court on Friday, Judge Evangelos Thomas ordered three New Zealand tour companies to pay reparations to the victims: White Island Tours, helicopter company Volcanic Air Safaris and Whakaari Management Limited, which owns the island.
“I adopt an individual lump sum of NZ$250,000,” or about $150,000 per person, Judge Thomas said. That figure could be adjusted for those who had experienced special difficulties, he added, including children who had lost their parents.
“Reparation cannot be more than a symbolic recognition of emotional damage,” he added.
It comes after Mr Justice Thomas ruled in October that Whakaari Management had breached a law requiring it to ensure those visiting the active volcano, also known by its Maori name, Whakaari, were not at risk. The company had not made sufficient efforts to conduct risk assessments or collaborate with experts to minimize the potential danger to tourists, he said at the time.
The volcano erupted on December 9, 2019, killing 22 people and injuring 25 others, all of whom were in tour groups as members or guides. Seventeen of those who died were Australian citizens.
Witnesses at the time described the eruption as resembling “a nuclear bomb explosion,” according to RNZ, the country’s national broadcaster.
WorkSafe, a New Zealand government regulator, subsequently charged 13 organizations and individuals for failing to meet workplace health and safety obligations to avoid risks. All of these companies were subsequently convicted of health and safety failures, but only the three companies cited by Judge Thomas were ordered to pay reparations.
In a statement after the sentencing, Steve Haszard, chief executive of WorkSafe, said the events had changed “our national understanding” of the requirements for businesses to keep people safe.
“Whakaari is a catastrophic example of what can go wrong if it is not done,” he said, adding: “People put their faith in the companies involved in these trips. But they were not adequately informed about the risks and were not kept safe.”