Company found guilty of safety breaches over deadly 2019 New Zealand volcano eruption

WELLINGTON - The management company of White Island, where a

volcano eruption killed 22 people

, mostly tourists, in 2019, was found guilty of one charge of breaching health and safety law in a New Zealand court on Tuesday.

Following the blast on White Island, also known as Whakaari, the workplace regulator charged 13 parties in November 2020. Six of them, including the helicopter and boat tour operators, pleaded guilty. Charges against the other parties, except the management company, were dismissed.

District Court Judge Evangelos Thomas found Whakaari Management Limited (WML), which manages the island on behalf of the owners but did not undertake the tours, guilty of one health and safety charge. A second charge was dismissed.

Judge Thomas said WML controlled and managed the volcano as a workplace and, as a result, it needed to engage necessary expertise such as volcanology and health and safety expertise to assess risk arising from tours.

"It was a reasonably practicable step it should have taken to ensure it met its duty," said the judge, adding that it was a "major failure" that it did not do so.

WML and the other entities, excluding Inflight Charters which had already been sentenced, are expected to be sentenced in 2024.

The parties face a maximum fine of NZ$1.5 million (S$1.2 million).

Lawyers for WML did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

White Island is an active volcano that lies around 50km offshore from the town of Whakatane on the east coast of North Island. It used to regularly host visitors even though eruptions were not uncommon.

Most of the victims were tourists from countries including Australia, the United States and Malaysia. There were 47 people on the island when the volcano erupted, many of whom were badly burned by searing gas and ash.

Tourists are no longer able to visit the island. REUTERS