(WHAKATANE, New Zealand) — New Zealand police and military specialists have launched a risky operation to recover the bodies of eight victims of a volcanic eruption on an island that has left at least eight others dead.
Just after first light Friday, two helicopters from the New Zealand Defence Force lifted off from the township of Whakatane and began the 50-kilometer (30-mile) journey to White Island off New Zealand’s eastern coast.
Eight military specialists wearing protective clothing and using breathing apparatuses will land to try to recover the bodies. Scientists have warned that gases on the island after Monday’s eruption are so toxic and corrosive that a single inhalation could be fatal.
