UPDATED: 6.53pm
Three air force planes have been sent to New Zealand to bring home 10 injured Australians caught up in the deadly volcano explosion.
The military transport planes are expected to bring home the injured to New South Wales and Victoria in the next 24 hours.
A doctor would still have to give the patients the green light to travel based on the severity of their injuries.
The news came after Kiwi health authorities confirmed they need 1.2 million square centimetres of skin to heal survivors at the country’s four specialist burns units – Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital (11), Christchurch (eight), Waikato (six) and Hutt Valley (four).
Counties Manukau Health chief medical officer Peter Watson said they are caring for 29 survivors.
“We currently have supply but are urgency sourcing additional supplies to meet the demand addressing temporary skin grafts,” Dr Watson said.
“These supplies are coming from the United States and the order has been placed.”
Dr Watson said the combination of volcanic gases had necessitated “rapid surgical treatment” than everyday burns.
“Our surgical teams … have been working around the clock, non-stop to expedite the initial surgical treatment of the patients,” he said.
“This is just the start of a very long process for some patients for last several months.”
The Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria and the New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service have both sent 10,000 square centimetres of allograft skin.
Earlier on Wednesday, the first Australian victims killed in the White Island eruption have been identified as Brisbane mother Julie Richards and her daughter Jessica.
Police have also identified the body of Adelaide man Gavin Dallow.
His 15-year-old stepdaughter Zoe Hosking is presumed dead, with her body on the island.
Earlier, Jesse Langford, from Sydney, was found alive.
The 19-year-old was thought to have been killed with three other members of his family. His condition is unknown at present, as he recuperates in hospital.
New Zealand police have contacted the families and loved ones of all 47 people who were on White Island during Monday’s volcanic eruption, but face major challenges to fully identify bodies and injured survivors.
The family of Ms Richards, 47, and her daughter, 20, was “united in grief” after receiving news they had died in Monday’s eruption, friend John Mickel said.
“You obviously live in hope that’s it not going to be your loved one’s name that comes up, but the hope was snuffed out this morning with the message from the New Zealand police,” he said.
“Now we have the festive season, which will be celebrated by so many Queenslanders, but for this family it will be one of deep poignancy.”
He said the two women had been extremely excited about their cruise holiday with the liner Ovation of the Seas, which included the trip to White Island.
The pair were reported missing after the catastrophe that has injured at least 13 Australians.
The nature of the eruption on the island meant survivor ingested ash and volcanic gases, resulting in horrific injuries.
“There are a number of people in hospital who cannot communicate because they have significant burns not only to skin but to internal organs,” NZ Police Minister Stuart Nash told Radio NZ.
“They cannot speak … or communicate.”
Adelaide mother Lisa Dallow, who was critically injured, has burns to 57 per cent of her body and is in an induced coma, her husband’s sister has told the ABC.
Ms Dallow was found alive in a hospital in Hamilton on Tuesday.
Whakaari/White Island eruption update: Latest Volcanic Alert Bulletin available on our website now. Volcanic tremor has…
Posted by GeoNet on Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Meanwhile, authorities in New Zealand abandoned a plan to retrieve the bodies remaining on White Island on Wednesday after recording tremors and increased volcanic activity.
They said it was unlikely for at least a couple of days.
GeoNet, the New Zealand agency that gathers volcano data, said it considered a further eruption “likely” in the next 24 hours.
“The level of volcanic tremor has significantly increased at the island,” GeoNet said.
“This has been accompanied by vigorous steaming and localised mud jetting in several of the craters created by the eruption on Monday.
“We interpret these signals as evidence of continued high gas pressures within the volcano.”
Day 3 Whakaari White Island. The stories of heroism continue. Out on a boat today. Alert level rising – police vessel Patrolling . #whiteislanderuption #WhiteIsland pic.twitter.com/4SqQSjzx39
— anna thomas (@annathomas2020) December 10, 2019
When White Island exploded on Monday, 47 tourists were overwhelmed as tall plumes of ash and steam punctured the sky. Six people have since died, three of them thought to be Australians.
The total official death toll is expected to rise, with NZ authorities confirming at least six bodies remain on the island and many survivors having suffered critical injuries.
The White Island volcano, a well-known tourist and scientific attraction, has emitted volcanic gas and smoke for decades, if not centuries.
Many of the dead and missing were from the cruise ship,
The Ovation of the Seas.
It resumed sailing on Wednesday morning, after remaining docked in Tauranga, following Monday’s eruption.
The ship set sail for Wellington early on Wednesday. It is due to arrive there on Thursday, and will return to Australia at the weekend.
Australians affected (at 4.30pm AEDT Wednesday)
- From Melbourne: Krystal Browitt, 21, missing;
- From Coffs Harbour, NSW: Karla Mathews, 32, and partner Richard Elzer, 32, missing. Their travel companion Jason Griffiths is in hospital with severe burns to 80 per cent of his body;
- Sydney, NSW: Anthony and Kristine Langford, and daughter Winona, 17, unaccounted for;
- From Sydney: The Hollander family – father Martin, 48, wife Barbara and two teenage sons believed aged 13-14 and 16-17, are missing;
- From Sydney, NSW: Marion London, 56, and husband Nick are in hospital with severe burns.
-with AAP
