This is a relatively well-made documentary about the "unexpected" eruption of the Whakaari volcano. This volcano is situated on an island one and a half hour's journey from the coast or 45 minutes by helicopter, hence quite remote.
As bad luck wanted, the island was open to the public and visited regularly by tourists. On the day of the eruption, two groups landed by boat and a handful of tourists landed by helicopter. The group that started earlier managed to leave the island just minutes before the eruption.
At that stage, there were still some 30 people on the island, 25 of them close to the volcano, and all hell broke loose. Some tourists literally melted on the spot never to be found and they were the lucky ones. Some 22 managed to reach the coast, badly burnt and thirsty. The only rescue they found was the first boat that turned back to pick up the injured and the helicopter pilot, who jumped into the sea and was unscathed.
You would expect that an official rescue was organized, but the city officials forbade it because "the situation was too dangerous" and only three (or four?) commercial pilots decided to fly their helicopters to the island to rescue the survivors.
All that gallant rescue was almost for nothing because almost all the rescued people were burned too badly and died, but a handful survived with terrible scars and a very long recovery time. Heartbreaking stories, especially the newlywed and the teenager who lost his parents and his sister.
My relatively low rate is due to the fact that we don't hear much about the victims (what about the helicopter's group?) and that eventually, the moral of the story is always "who's to blame and why the survivors didn't get hefty compensations".
As bad luck wanted, the island was open to the public and visited regularly by tourists. On the day of the eruption, two groups landed by boat and a handful of tourists landed by helicopter. The group that started earlier managed to leave the island just minutes before the eruption.
At that stage, there were still some 30 people on the island, 25 of them close to the volcano, and all hell broke loose. Some tourists literally melted on the spot never to be found and they were the lucky ones. Some 22 managed to reach the coast, badly burnt and thirsty. The only rescue they found was the first boat that turned back to pick up the injured and the helicopter pilot, who jumped into the sea and was unscathed.
You would expect that an official rescue was organized, but the city officials forbade it because "the situation was too dangerous" and only three (or four?) commercial pilots decided to fly their helicopters to the island to rescue the survivors.
All that gallant rescue was almost for nothing because almost all the rescued people were burned too badly and died, but a handful survived with terrible scars and a very long recovery time. Heartbreaking stories, especially the newlywed and the teenager who lost his parents and his sister.
My relatively low rate is due to the fact that we don't hear much about the victims (what about the helicopter's group?) and that eventually, the moral of the story is always "who's to blame and why the survivors didn't get hefty compensations".