New Zealand recovers 6 bodies from toxic volcanic island

13 December 2019, 10:52 am

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New Zealand military specialists wearing protective gear land on a small volcanic island and recover six bodies out of the 16 people who died in an eruption four days earlier.

The specialists — six men and two women wearing hooded protective suits and using breathing gear — land by helicopter on White Island and found six of the eight bodies thought to be there.

“We know that reunification won’t ease that sense of loss or grief because I don’t think anything can. But we felt an enormous duty of care as New Zealanders to make sure that we brought their family members back,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says at a news conference.

— AP