Economic recession and geopolitical tensions not to mention the small matter of a looming election join me Steve Clemons in conversation with leading voices on the bottom line your weekly take on u. S. Politics and society on aljazeera. It was meant to be the cruise of a lifetime a luxury trip around new zealand to soak up the countrys natural beauty. But then disaster struck. Cruise ship passengers were trapped in the middle of a volcanic eruption on wife island. Scenes of death and suffering confronted witnesses that something that i never thought id ever say and something i have i never have to see again what i want to east investigates how a dream holiday turned into a deadly not met. On december 4th last year the ovation of the cities set sail from sydney for new zealand. It was paid crew season and thousands of australians had bought tickets for one of the last trips before christmas. On board the Royal Caribbean cruise was adelaide lawyer gavin dello his wife lisa and her 15 year old daughter zoe hosking. A really looking forward to on camera showing the creature of blue whos already going through should be. The boss trial new zealand. Also on the ovation of the seas with sydney family the lang fitz mom and dad christine an anthony and their. Children j. C. And when. There were lots of families taking i suppose an early christmas or a lead into their Christmas Holidays and paid a lot of money they planned for at which they can leave from work their mindset is i can let them look after me. One of the highlights offered to passengers was a day trip to visit volcano. They were provided with a bright show but was branded with Royal Caribbean branding they would have been provided with a ticket also branded with Royal Caribbean branding and they were told in the brochure that all they needed to do if theyre attending this show was to wear in chorus shoes. The brochure promised tourists could get close to the drama gas masks help you get new boring steam vents bubbling pits of mud hot volcanic streams and the amazing like of steaming acid. They were told to think about whether they were a carrier with doing a strenuous walk people in wheelchairs that it probably wasnt a good idea for them to go on the island but generally or there were told is this was an adventurous fun thing to do in just a way in quite sure what i told about the reese and the risk of an eruption nothing. Absolutely nothing. Tourism new zealand promoted white island to a strength in travel agents as one of the countries he didnt james. What island is an active volcano its a cone volcano its the top of all kind that kid would draw at school its a typical regularly erupting active volcano the different thing about what island as most of its underwater so the tip of the island only was poking out through the ocean. More than 18000. 00 people visited the island each year. It would be Something Like a few pictures going to mars the landscape so make the colors a real person and different at such a harsh looking form and its effect of you know things are always changing gears always sound all vain and stuff you know it was just surreal really awesome awesome but. When you actually land on the island and you walk into the crater that of the volcano youre actually walking right into the throat of an active volcano that is a ruptured frequently in the last several decades. In 2016 scientists got a warning of just how dangerous an eruption on white island could be. So there was an eruption in 2016 it was at night. It was a similar option and that it had a column up in the air it produced a surge out across the ground probably through quite a lot of rock and ballistics but there was nobody on the island thats the big difference. It was very clear that if people had been on that island at that time in 2016 it would have been very hard to survive and we put that on our bulletins as our main communication. Mechanism afterwards to make that really clear. My personal point of view is they shouldve stopped tourist activities particularly in terms of landing on the island. Late last year the volcanic activity on the island increased on december 3 the government body that monitors white island said. Maybe entering a period where eruptive activity is more likely than normal. We had raised the alert level to level 2 thats the highest level it can be at but its not erupting. Thats because we could see tremor in the volcano increasing over those those months and we could also see some increases in that gas that were monitoring at the volcano indicating that and rest was up do you think if we havent heard now and that there was a level to raise he wouldnt have gone on for. One its true. Because he when one of the reasons. The rimi dodger was a lot of. Courtrooms of the sriracha die in jail. On the morning of december 9th several 2 a groups were heading to what island new zealand residence jeff hopkins and his daughter little drive to fuck a town or a point to 2 is to the volcano. Something ive always been interested in and dad went when he was younger so it was amazing it was a fast theyre together. The trip due to leave it 10 am was run by a well known group called white island to it which was the only operator taking people to the island by boat. We checked in. This crime or signed in mexican details etc received a boarding. Ass which was a metal cone and then from there just across the road and whited by the boat for the crew to start loading. Jeff in the line it can be seen here on the wharf whiting to get on the white island to his boat the feigning the video was filmed by brazilian tourist alice sandro calif mn for the film. Yeah we do this for the camera and just feel me everything you know like a blog or blog and like these. Things. Alessandra was on the to with his wife eileen e. Yeah it was like just excitement to get there and to see how like hardy. When we 1st got on the island there was a brief safety briefing and it world was very very brief it was just you know dont touch anything you dont take anything stay on the path and stay in between the talk guides that was kind of about it. I was sun dried kept filming is the to a god warned about getting too close to the steam. Are great if were going to ask you for your own oh here heres one of your data streams here it really is a pile of bubbling water like i go through life here because i dont know what youre going to be your food down. I think theyre going to go before this thing right here in your victory if you move your friends. The walking track crossed a shallow creek. The group hiked towards the crater like the highlight of the 2 are right in the center of the island. While they were there laurie photographed a helicopter run by volcanic landing on the island with the pilot and 4 passengers. For a few minutes as alice sondra headed back to the jetty he filmed another white island to his boat anchored in the bag. It had brought 38. 00 passengers from the ovation of the sea including gavin dello his wife lisa and her daughter zoe among their 2 a guides would typically monkey kill sea where corn and hide in marshall inman. As the group from the phoenix left the island they took some final photos looking up towards the crater like. At one point the captain said if you look in the distance right against the steam cloud of the credit like you can see some dots those dots were the other top party so he pointed them out there were people up there on the credit like. At 11 minutes past to the phoenix and its passengers were about to head back to the mainland when the volcano erupted. As i turned around i could see over the top of the canopy as i looked up just this on numerous clouds of black and bright white stayman ash. Instantly i knew it was up to. These 1st pitches were filmed by the passengers as they bite headed away from the island. The eruption was short it only lasted a minute or 2 it was a steamer option it generated a column of ash and hot water and steam straight up and then led into a surge of hot steam and ash moving outwards across the ground it also looks like it had some flying rocks some of what we call ballistics coming through the air as well. The system that exploded the 100th of a system would have been a 2 or 300. 00 degrees or more. On the feigning or quickly turned to horror. There was a rolling ash cloud that came up to the top of a cliff and as it tumbled over the cliff and as it tumbled down to the cliff kind of came out and started to come out to the city. That completely obscured the whole island i never seen anything anything like a. 1000000. Dollar. Man. Im sure how long. The 47 papal including 38 passengers from the invasion of the sea was still on the island after escaping the ash cloud the captain of the phoenix turned back to the jetty to help. A lot of all the. Young. Woman. First thing i could see was one person in the water swimming out to that boat then i could see others that were gathered around the jetty where wed gone on and off from where we landed on the island. Looking for any bawling oh my god. The next thing they saw was the mangled volcanic helicopter that had been blown off its landing pad. At that stage the crew whod lowered them flight aboard and started the rescue mission to pick people up. One of the tour guides that i had spoken quite closely with she came in to get some 1st aid kits and me and dad went up and asked to help me by how office. Its difficult its and she said that she had all the help she can get shes got multiple back that dont. Injured survivors were brought onto the phoenix the crew asked passengers not to film. When the 1st people got aboard like most of them was really really hard. We start to help them to clean that. They were feeling pain like they saw be posts quiet very quiet some people was screaming. Some peoples crying. First thing that i saw was a survivor came on the back of a boat. And she was just. Burned like ive never seen. Before. Some were just into shorts so that our. Legs were burnt and really all we could do was just trying call them with fresh water. It was a case of keeping people from going out of consciousness people going in shock. One of the 1st people brought on board was Kelsey Waghorn the white island who is god who survived with terrible. She had severe burns to hair hands her legs church i guess her clothing quite a few people that had very i guess protective clothing on were mostly just ban on their faces and their hands which were not as severe as those that had burns over their whole body the most severe burns were ones that had no skin left it was just kind of tripped off them like wax. And that something i never i never thought id ever see and something i hope i never have to see again. With more than 20 victims loaded on board the phoenix quickly became crowded. Jeff was on the front of the boat with american lauren yuri she was on her honeymoon with her husband matthew they were both seriously injured but survived she was in so much pain she was burned pretty much across most of her body she was then started to drift in and out of consciousness she really became my myself focus she asked me not to leave her and i promised i wouldnt. And that became i was going to break that promise as well as though. It was a moment everyone. So that they could do was heard their. Trying to. Wire up with. Arms in their body. Kit. To make tin. I mean. People on the mainland saw the eruption but they had no idea of the horror that was unfolding. As news of the eruption sprayed a group of helicopter pilots who regularly took visitors to want island launched a remarkable rescue operation it was about quarter past home or foreign run in another part like amount. Run means you know the on the block it was blowing up. Toms boss mark lawler jumped in one helicopter. Tom and another pilot jason hill got into another. Person. In nearby road to ruin volcanic pilot team barrow it was in his hangar when he heard about the eruption. Of the fish to craft the course ready to fly i said well you and a lot of my guys we got able. They didnt know it is they flew out there but there were 20 people still on the island some badly injured others already did. We landed behind the helicopter that was blown off the paper. So that was really when it uses this has been quite a serious of me so. Were going to got to the victims started helping them putting on gas mask giving them water putting them in the recovery position making those companies mccain district sure in them that were there we are there to help and were. Going to get you off the all and end you are not aligned. The conditions they were working in would toxic. Without a gas mask of those really had the brave almost impossible to prove just rw rw shop. A. Since the you always had stopped only and some places it was gone of a foot deep of a fish. That youre running through. In condor quite eerie is the volcanic could still say it was the way up the it was still raining ash on us. The pilots carried a total of 12 people on to 3 helicopters i know one person that i carried it was a lot of noise carrying but by the time i got to the helicopter all i had a suspicion that they may have passed away or told mark in. Just carry on just to put them in the. Obviously i felt really concerned for the 2 survivors that we had on board they were in good shape. What condition of a couple of the chopper one of their passengers sadly had passed away on the flight deck and the other one was. A bad way. Despite the risk of another eruption tom stayed on the island to search for more survivors. Finally search and rescue paramedics arrived by helicopter and landed near the jetty. Talk to immediately explain to them we price the bodies that we had i victims that i knew of it on. The safe i dont know if anyone else was on the oil and it point i just could just add in the 4 that i that weve come across most at that point that we have been instructed to levy on. This was. On board the cruise ship the ovation of the seas families were waiting for their loved ones to return from the day trip to white island. Hours pos before they found out what had happened. There are accounts of people here and he found out about this tragedy. From a Family Member back in australia saying turn on the tape and look at whats happened on what island. Council ive heard of that the Staff Members did not communicate and when they are confronted about it. The Family Members just sit in a room for an extended amount of time with no information and i stood precious albas that i could have been using to see their Family Members in hospital before a lot of some. Among those who hadnt returned to the cruise ship. As we got away tonight at least 27 people are missing after a volcano erupted off the coast of new zealand one person has been confirmed. We will know what triggered me. And i say the new zealands developed high you know explode and then i am a few. Noory it was all me all i saw. All these marble farm crews. We didnt cannot answer thats right sorry knew there was somebody. A hospital. There was. Often contain thanks. You so who is really wrong. And sort of. Officially you know i did a full on. Home from there. For. They were bodies still left on the island. The effort to rescue them was to lie because of fears of another eruption. Among the bodies recovered was given delos step daughter zoe hosking. Wife lisa had survived but was badly injured. In new zealand work safe in the coroner of both looking into the tragedy but their investigations could take more than a year. Theres no way in this world that any of us would have put people on the island of weve fought for a moment. Not one millisecond that there would have been. A result but the us. 19 of the 21 people who died were from the ovation of the sea. Sydney lawyer to use if is representing passengers and Family Members who believe the cruise operator Royal Caribbean didnt do enough to warn its guests this particular volcano was at a level. At the very least Royal Caribbean which held itself out to be responsible for this too i should have been monitoring and communicating with participants as to the risk and giving them the choice and informed choice to decide not to go because of this risk how much responsibility is on the participant in the 2 or to do their own research to find out how safe or unsafe something needs i would say none and thats because they are relying on this company to do that for them theyre handing over money their hard earned money for somebody else to be responsible for that. For many families the grave is still very raw. From a larger new situation. After these childishly you. Talk. So you know next streets are trying to go for. Things you just dumped on the ground why shrink. Sandwiches to live sound or die. Tens of thousands of filipino nurses a saving american lives during the cold at 19. They came to the us for a better life but at what cost. 101 east investigates on just a. Prank assessments tourism but income stream is dead in the water whats been the result is who poaching got quite significantly and in depth analysis of the days global headlines inside story on aljazeera. Whats most important to me is talking to people understanding what they are going through here and i just see it or we believe everyone has a story worth hearing. Polish in china for its actions in hong kong us President Donald Trump and those new sanctions. And is the territories special status. The whole roman you want your knowledge is there a life headquarters here in doha also coming