As many as 13 feared dead in eruption of New Zealand volcano

WHAKATANE, New Zealand — A volcano off the New Zealand coast erupted Monday with a towering blast of ash and scalding steam as dozens of tourists were exploring the moon-like surface, killing five people and leaving eight others missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Helicopter crews landed on White Island despite the danger and helped rescue dozens of survivors, authorities said.

Hours after the disaster, the site was still considered too dangerous for rescuers to search for the missing. But aircraft flew over the island, and “no signs of life have been seen at any point,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

The missing and injured included New Zealanders and tourists from the U.S., China, Australia, Britain and Malaysia, the prime minister said.

“My god,” Michael Schade tweeted as he posted video of the eruption. “My family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it. Boat ride home tending to people our boat rescued was indescribable.”

The terrifying disaster immediately raised questions of why people were allowed to visit the island some 30 miles off mainland New Zealand after scientists had noted an uptick in volcanic activity in recent weeks. White Island is the tip of an undersea volcano.

Authorities said 47 people were on the island at the time. In addition to the dead and missing, 31 survivors were hospitalized and three others were released, officials said. Some of the victims were reported severely burned.

The eruption sent a plume of steam and ash an estimated 12,000 feet into the air.

Some of the visitors were passengers from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.

The GeoNet agency, which monitors volcanoes and earthquakes in New Zealand, had raised the alert level on...