[Russell Clark, Intensive Care Paramedic:] It was like like I've seen the "Chernobyl" miniseries, and there was just everything was just blanketed in ash. It was quite an overwhelming feeling.
[Gorani:] One of the paramedics who flew in after a volcano erupted on a New Zealand island, six people are now confirmed dead, one person died in the hospital. this is some of that apocalyptic landscape that the medic described. Look at that, wow. It really does look like complete and utter devastation. Eight people are still missing, by the way. The victims were mostly tourists, some on a cruise excursion and some of them, walking right on the volcano itself. Will Ripley tells us what it must have been like when the volcano blew.
[Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] It must have been absolutely horrific for the people who were on White Island at the time of this eruption, which happened, we're told, with very little notice. Even though some volcanologists say that there have been signs in recent weeks of increased activity at this active volcano, which also happens to be an incredibly popular tourist destination, visited by thousands of people every year. That, of course, raises the obvious question, why were people allowed not just to visit this island, but to actually hike into the volcanic crater? Yes, the tour company that operates the majority of these trips has an excellent safety record. But this nonetheless is a volcano that is known to have eruptions from time to time. And this eruption, while it might be considered relatively minor by volcanic standards, if somebody's standing right up there next to the crater, looking over the edge? Well, we talked with a volcanologist who describes the conditions, the horrific conditions they would have likely endured, a blast so powerful it would have shot boulders possibly up to a meter, three feet across, straight up into the air, not to mention smaller particles of rock being shot laterally at sonic or even supersonic speeds. Just the impact from that alone could be fatal, not to mention that impenetrable cloud of volcanic ash and the toxic gases and steam that would have enveloped these people who were on the island. Forty-seven people on the island when the eruption occurred. It blew the rotors off a helicopter. People who would have been in the middle of it wouldn't be able to see, they wouldn't know which direction to run to go to safety. And that's why you have hospital officials here, warning that people who have burns over 30 percent of their bodies, not to mention whatever they inhaled, they may not be able to survive their injuries, which is why the number of dead is expected to climb. There are also bodies that are still sitting on the island. Rescue crews, so far, have not been able to go recover them because the conditions have been deemed unsafe. And so you have this cruise ship, the Ovation of the Seas, sitting here. It was supposed to be at sea. It's still here, docked, passengers kind of waiting to learn what's going to happen next as this investigation continues, as people continue to try to recover int he hospital with their worried families, back at home, wondering if they're going to pull through, never expecting that they would have gone on a cruise like this, gotten off the boat, gone on an excursion, only to never come home. Will Ripley, CNN, Tauranga, New Zealand.
[Gorani:] All right. Will Ripley, there, as you saw there from the footage, able to see that island from his position on shore, where that volcano erupted. Six people confirmed dead, eight still missing and many of those who survived, suffering injuries some of them with quite severe burns as well. Still to come tonight, we are live from the COP25 climate conference in Spain as a new report highlights the dangerous changes to our planet. What are we going to do about it? we'll be right back.