The Whakaari-White Island trial will begin on July 10 and is expected to run for 16 weeks.
The Whakaari-White Island trial will begin on July 10 and is expected to run for 16 weeks.
The 2019 Whakaari-White Island eruption that claimed the lives of 22 people will go to trial on Monday in a WorkSafe prosecution that is expected to last four months.
There were 47 people on the island, a popular tourist destination near Whakatāne in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, when it erupted on December 9. The island sat at Volcanic Alert Level 2 at the time.
Twenty-two people died in and after the eruption - the majority Australian and United States citizens, alongside two New Zealanders and a German national. Twenty-five people were injured.
The judge-alone trial begins on Monday at 2.15pm with a mihi whakatau, a traditional Māori welcome ceremony.
It will take place at the Specialist Courts and Tribunals Centre in Auckland, roughly 300 kilometres away from where the eruption took place, and is expected to take about 16 weeks.
White Island viewed from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter on December 9, 2019 during a rescue mission to retrieve people injured in the volcanic explosion. Image / Auckland Rescue Helictoper Trust
The charges are brought by WorkSafe New Zealand, alleging health and safety failings from six defendants relating to the fatal eruption.
On Friday, Volcanic Air Safaris Limited, Kahu NZ Limited and Aerius Limited pleaded guilty to amended charges relating to the health and safety failings.
The helicopter tour operators were charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 following a nearly 12-month investigation.
In a statement released following the guilty pleas, WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes said the survivors and the family and whānau of those who have passed will be in many people’s thoughts.
“Whakaari was an absolute tragedy, and we remember everyone who was impacted. These pleas acknowledge the processes that should have been in place to look after people’s health and safety on the day Whakaari erupted.”
GNS Science and White Island Tours had earlier pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
The Whakatāne community can view a live-stream of the trial at Acacia House, 19 Louvain St, with doors opening at 2pm on the first day.
The WorkSafe prosecutor in the case, Kristy McDonald, has previously labelled the trial as “the most significant” to ever be held in the District Court and said it would likely attract significant international attention.
In December last year, a group of nearly 20 people including victims’ families, one survivor and a helicopter operator who rescued people on the day went to the island crater to lay a plaque in remembrance.
Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.
