Up to 20 Reported Injured in New Zealand Volcano Eruption

As many as 20 people were injured and emergency crews were racing to the scene after a volcano erupted on White Island off the coast of New Zealand, authorities told national radio on Monday.

GeoNet, the government earthquake agency, said the country's most active cone volcano, Whakaari, erupted at about 2:10 p.m. Monday on White Island, in the Bay of Plenty about 30 miles off the northeast New Zealand coast, NBC News reports.

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The national Meteorological Service confirmed the eruption and tweeted radar and satellite images of the eruption and its ash cloud. The Civil Defense Ministry said that the area should be considered dangerous and that a news conference was being organized for later in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Radio New Zealand, the government-chartered public broadcaster, that "we believe 100 people were on or around the island," some of whom remained unaccounted for.

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