A Wellington court has ordered tour operators and the managers of the New Zealand island where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people in December 2019 to pay nearly $NZ13 million (US$7.9m) in fines and reparations.
“There is no way to measure the emotional harm survivors and affected families have endured and will continue to endure,” the judge said. “Reparation in a case like this can be no more than token recognition of that harm.”
The holding company of White Island’s owners, a boat tour operator and three helicopter tour operators, were found guilty of safety breaches at a three-month trial last year.
There were 47 tourists and tour guides on the island when the volcano erupted, killing 22 and leaving survivors with terrible injuries.
New Zealand scientific agency GNS Science, the government agency that monitors volcanic activity, was fined $NZ33,000 (US$20,140) for failing to have processes to share risk assessments with its contracted helicopter pilots.