A company in New Zealand has been found guilty of not “minimising risk” to 22 people who died in the 2019 White Island volcano disaster.
Judge Evangelos Thomas criticised what he referred to as “astonishing failures” on the part of Whakaari Management. Whakaari Management licenses tours to White island.
The case is the largest action of its kind brought by New Zealand's regulator Worksafe NZ. The company faces up to NZ$1.5m ($928,000; £724,000) in fines.
Thirteen parties were charged over the disaster – six had pleaded guilty while six more had their charges dismissed.The judge said Whakaari Management “managed and controlled” the active volcano.
He also dismissed a second charge against the company relating to the safety of its own workers. James, Andrew and Peter Buttle, who own the company, inherited the volcano and licenced other businesses to run tours.
White Island – also known by its Maori name of Whakaari – had been erupting in some form since 2011. It was rated at Volcanic Alert Level 2 at the time of the disaster on 9 December 2019, indicating “moderate to heightened volcanic unrest”.
— CutC by bbc.com
