White Island volcano: victims of explosion to receive US $6 million as compensation

The victims of White Island volcano disaster will be given monetary compensation by tour operators, who were earlier found guilty of negligence and safety breaches. Two courts in New Zealand court ordered a total compensation of 6 million US dollars.

In December 2019, 22 out of 47 people touring the volatile volcano were killed. The remaining were gravely injured.

The payments will be divided among the victims while the families of those who perished will receive more.

Judge Evangelos Thomas found the company guilty on one charge, saying it had failed to do a risk assessment despite being aware of an eruption three years earlier, which hadn't harmed anybody because it happened at night.

White Island, the tip of an undersea volcano also known by its Indigenous Maori name Whakaari, was a popular tourist destination before the eruption.

The disaster has raised questions about why tourists were allowed on a volcano where experts had recently raised threat levels.

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