White Island volcano eruption: criminal convictions for island owners thrown out
Twenty-two people died in the 2019 New Zealand disaster, mostly US and Australian cruise ship passengers on a walking tour
The owners of an island volcano in New Zealand where 22 tourists and local guides died in an eruption had their criminal conviction for failing to keep visitors safe thrown out by a judge on Friday.
The release of the decision followed a three-day hearing last October for the owners’ company at the high court in the city of Auckland where they appealed against the charges laid by New Zealand’s workplace health and safety regulator after the 2019 eruption of Whakaari, also known as White Island.