NZ court orders mn's in fines, compensation for 2019 volcanic eruption

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand district court on Friday ordered tour operators and the company that owns the New Zealand island where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people, to pay a fine of USD 1.6 million (NZ$2.6 million) and to pay compensation of USD 6.2 million (NZ$10.2 million), CNN reported. The District Court in Auckland handed down its sentence on Friday, ending a criminal prosecution brought by WorkSafe, New Zealand's health and safety regulators, to seek justice for 47 tourists who were on Whakaari or White Island on December 9, 2019.

White Island, a volcanic island, 48 kilometres (30 miles) off New Zealand's North Island, is a famous tourist attraction for those wanting to trek up the slopes of an active volcano, as reported by CNN.

The weeks-long trial held last year revisited horrifying testimony of how the island turned into "an oven" for the holidaymakers on that fateful day as the volcano erupted.

The survivors, scarred by severe burns, testified against various companies, including Whakaari Management Ltd., which owned the island, accusing them of failing to warn them about the risks.

Judge Evangelos Thomas, on Friday, said both Whakaari Management Ltd. and other tour operators failed to conduct adequate risk assessments, breaking health and safety laws with devastating consequences.

Thomas stated further that the operators failed to seek advice from volcanological experts and failed to appreciate the unpredictability of an eruption, which further led to an incorrect assessment of risk mitigation, according to CNN.

The owner of the island failed to make sure the operators had examined the risks properly, the judge ruled.

Whakaari Management Ltd., owned by brothers Andrew, Peter and James Buttle, was convicted after trial.

Previously, they pleaded not guilty to a charge under the country's Health and Safety at Work Act.

They were fined USD 636,034 (NZ$1,045,000) and ordered to pay reparations of USD 2.9 million (NZ$4.8 million), in total the most substantial amount of all the defendants in the case.

Reportedly, the four other operators are White Island Tours Ltd, Volcanic Air Safaris Ltd, Aerius Ltd., and Kahu (NZ) Ltd.

Thomas noted that all defendants have either stopped trading, have no assets, were in liquidation, or were in a weak financial position, CNN reported.

With reference to Whakaari Management Ltd., which claims to have 'no assets', the judge said the Buttles family appeared to "have profited handsomely" from the tour operation, even though he cannot order shareholders to pay out of their own pockets. However, he warned, "There may be no commercial basis for doing so, but many would argue there is an inescapable moral one."

"We wait to see what the Buttles will do. The world is watching," he added.

As reported earlier, the 47 people on Whakaari that day, included families from countries such as Australia, the US and Malaysia, as reported by CNN.

Moreover, during last year's trial in July, survivors explained the extreme conditions and searing pain they found themselves in as they fled for their lives following the eruption.

Tourist Annie Lu, who suffered from burns up to 38 percent of her body, recalled feeling like "sand and rocks everywhere that were being thrown" at her.

"It was just like someone heating some needles until it was iron hot and then shoving it all onto you," she testified from Australia via video-conferencing in July last year.

"Think of, if you open an oven and the heat just rushes at you. It's kind of like that but 1,000 times worse," she added.

American tourist Matthew Urey said he struggled to breathe as they were enveloped by waves of heat that prosecutors estimate reached 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), or more.

"I don't know whether it was steam or hot ash, but it was all over us," he testified during the trial, CNN reported.

Moreover, in Friday's judgement, the judge acknowledged the 'harm', noting the "excruciating and traumatic injuries" from which many victims still suffer and the grief "felt by those who lost loved ones."

"Even if it is difficult for someone who has not endured it to possibly imagine it, we admire and respect those who are so courageously learning to rebuild themselves, their lives, their families," he said.