Photo: RNZThe official death toll from the Whakaari/White Island eruption is now 16 after one of the victims who had been repatriated to Australia died yesterday. Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said conditions in the water around White Island yesterday were "not optimal" with between zero and two metres visibility. As of 4pm yesterday, 17 injured patients, 11 of them critically, in the White Island eruption were spread across Middlemore, Waikato, Hutt Valley and Christchurch hospitals. The shipment is part of the 120sq m of skin, 60 donors' worth, needed to help treat White Island eruption victims' terrible burn injuries. Police also announced yesterday that the bodies recovered off White Island have been taken to Auckland for the post mortem and disaster victim identification process.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 14, 2019 18:38 UTC