Tourists injured, missing in eruption of New Zealand's White Island volcano

WELLINGTON - A volcano erupted in New Zealand on Monday (Dec 9), spewing a plume of ash thousands of feet into the air, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying tourists were among several people unaccounted for as emergency services mounted a rescue operation.

As many as 100 people were in the vicinity when the eruption began about 2.11pm on White Island, about 50km from the east coast of North Island, authorities said, sending up smoke visible from the mainland.

"Some of those, at this stage, are unaccounted for," Ms Ardern said. "A number of people are reportedly injured and are being transported to shore."

She said the incident appeared to be "very significant."

"All our thoughts are with those affected," she said.

The island's immediate surroundings were hazardous because of the eruption, the National Emergency Management Agency said in an statement, adding that falling ash might affect some areas.

The "short-lived eruption" threw an ash plume about 3,658m high, New Zealand's geoscience agency GNS Science said in a statement, but added there were no current signs of an escalation.

GeoNet agency - a collaboration between Earthquake Commission and GNS Science - has raised its alert level to four, on a scale where five represents a major eruption.

Police were asking people to avoid areas on the North Island that were close to the eruption, including the Whakatane Heads and Muriwai Drive areas.

Cameras providing a live feed from the volcano showed more than half a dozen people walking inside the rim at 2.10pm local time, before images went dark when the eruption occurred minutes later.

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The local mayor said& she feared there had been "injuries" in the eruption.

"I'm not sure if these people were on the island or near it, but there was definitely one group out there and they definitely needed medical care," said Ms Judy Turner, the mayor of the coastal town of Whakatane, near White Island.

"There were some injuries and the focus is on getting these injured people back safely and to get them to a hospital."

There seemed to be no danger for people in coastal areas farther away, she added.

St John medical responders said in a statement they believed there were 20 people on the island who were injured and in need of medical treatment. It said it had dispatched seven helicopters to the island with paramedics aboard.

White Island is a small, uninhabited island located north-east of the North Island town of Tauranga.

GeoNet says it is New Zealand's most active cone volcano and about 70 per cent of the volcano is under the sea.

Twelve people were killed on the island in 1914 when it was being mined for sulphur.

Part of a crater wall collapsed and a landslide destroyed the miners' village and the mine itself.

The remains of buildings from another mining enterprise in the 1920s are now a tourist attraction, according to GeoNet.

The island became a private scenic reserve in 1953, and daily tours allow more than 10,000 people to visit the volcano every year.

The island is also known by the indigenous Maori name Whakaari.