PHOTO: WHITE ISLAND FLIGHTS/SUPPLIED Tourism operator White Island Flights captured these images of the White Island eruption.
The Government should buy Whakaari/White Island off its private owners and turn it into a reserve with restricted access, a New Zealand land law expert says.
The volcanic island 48 kilometres off the Bay of Plenty coastline has been off limits to everyone except recovery teams, after it erupted on the afternoon of December 9 killing 16 people to date.
Two people are still missing, and 29 people were injured, many of whom remain in critical condition. There were 47 people, mostly tourists, on or near the island at the time of the eruption.
Ngāti Awa-owned business White Island Tours operated boat trips to White Island and has an exclusive landing licence for the island, which has been owned by the Buttle family since 1936.
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