White Island: Official death toll from volcano rises to 17

Auckland: The official death toll from the Whakaari/White Island eruption has risen to 17 after a victim died in hospital on Sunday.

Deputy Commissioner John Tims confirmed the death on Monday morning.

The deadly White Island eruption.

He said the person died while in Middlemore Hospital on Sunday night, with police being advised shortly before 11pm.

The person's death brings the official number of deceased to 17. Of the deaths, 16 died in New Zealand and one in Australia.

The official toll does not include two people still missing, presumed dead, in the waters around the island.

They are Kiwi tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman, 40, and Australian teenager Winona Langford, 17.

Marshall-Inman was farewelled in a memorial in Whakatāne on Friday where he was remembered as a "superman", a "hero" and, now, a "guardian of Whakaari".

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