White Island: Eruption's 17th victim named as American woman Mayuri Singh

The latest victim of the Whakaari/White Island eruption has been named by overseas media as American woman Mayuri Singh.

Singh - also known as Mary - and her husband Pratap "Paul" Singh were among the 47 people on the volcano when it erupted at 2.11pm on December 9, spewing scalding steam and ash into the air.

In the aftermath, eight people were confirmed to have died on the island, while others were rescued but died en route to the mainland.

More than 30 people ended up being treated in hospitals around New Zealand, many of them fighting for their lives. Among them were the Singhs, who both suffered severe burns and were being treated at Middlemore Hospital's burns unit.

Atlanta media outlet 11Alive reported that Mayuri had died of her injuries at Middlemore on Sunday, according to a family friend.

ABC News also spoke to Singh's family members who confirmed she had died.

NZ Police said yesterday a person had died at Middlemore on Sunday night, but have not yet released a name.

Family friend Roger da Silva said he had known the pair for years, calling them "beautiful people" who had touched many lives and regularly donated to charities.

Mayuri had suffered 70 per cent burns to her body.

About 40 per cent of Pratap's body had been burnt, and he had undergone skin grafts and multiple surgeries. He is in a stable condition in hospital.

Da Silva said family and friends would need to pull together to help Pratap and his children recover.

"Forty per cent of your body is a lot, but Paul has a strong heart and he's going to make it through this," he told 11Alive.

Mayuri Singh and her husband Pratap have been described as "beautiful, incredible people". Photo / Facebook

Mayuri's death brings the unofficial toll to 19. Seventeen of those have been confirmed by police while the bodies of two people - Winona Langford, 17, and Hayden Marshall-Inman, 40 - have been washed out to sea and are unlikely to be found.

Jeet Suchdev, from the Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust, previously told the Herald the Singhs were stable but were being kept in isolation to avoid infection.

Family members had arrived to be with the couple, joining New Zealand-based family and friends.

"They are feeling so low that they are hardly talking," he said. "It was a really unexpected thing, it's making their lives terrible. They are just so frustrated and low in morale."

The trust was doing what it could to help, Suchdev said.

The Singhs, who are of Indian origin, were two of nine Americans caught up in the disaster.

Thirteen patients remain in hospitals in New Zealand - nine in a critical condition - while another 12 are in Australian hospitals.