After being recovered from White Island, also known by its Maori name of Whakaari, the bodies will be examined in Auckland by experts including a pathologist, a forensic dentist and a fingerprint officer.
"This is a long and complex process and we are working as quickly as possible to return loved ones to their families," Deputy Commissioner John Tims said.A"high-speed" retrieval to get the bodies was launched even though the risk of another eruption remained. Going in, authorities knew the location of six of the missing and those bodies were airlifted off the island.
Volcanologists had warned that if the volcano erupted while they were on the island, the team could face magma, superheated steam, ash and rocks thrown at high speed. The specialists who went to the island were wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatus. But she said"we also need to respect the phase we're in now, with families only just getting their loved ones back".Out of the 47 people on the island when the eruption happened, 24 were from Australia, nine from the US, five from New Zealand, four from Germany, two from China, two from the UK, and one from Malaysia.
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