'Totally obliterated… it's eerie': First images of White Island emerge since the volcano erupted killing 21 people and horrifically burning dozens more

A filmmaker has captured the first images of White Island since the New Zealand volcano erupted and killed 21 people on Dec. 9 last year. 
Geoff Mackley went out to the island, 70 kilometres off the North Island coast, and sent up a drone to capture 'eerie' images of how the volcanic island looks now, ten months on from the disaster.
Forty-seven people were on the island when its volcano erupted, and only 26 people made it out alive, many with lifelong disfiguring and painful scarring.
Mackley said it was unnerving being out at the island, saying he 'thought about what went on out there and how terrible it would have been.' 

A filmmaker has captured the first images of White Island less than a year after its volcano erupted and killed 21 people
A filmmaker has captured the first images of White Island less than a year after its volcano erupted and killed 21 people
Geoff Mackley stopped his boat near the shoreline of the death trap that sits just 70 kilometres off New Zealand's North Island
Geoff Mackley stopped his boat near the shoreline of the death trap that sits just 70 kilometres off New Zealand's North Island
Although Mackley kept a safe distance away, he could still smell the sulphur emanating from the island
Although Mackley kept a safe distance away, he could still smell the sulphur emanating from the island
The few man-made structures on the island were obliterated by the eruption, with an abandoned helicopter the only physical reminder of the island's former status as a tourist drawcard.
Trips out to the island once brought in more than $4million a year but it is now deserted, with the layers of ash a reminder of the disaster. 
'It's not like it was before, where there was clearly defined tracks,' Mackley said. 
'They've been totally obliterated. It's like no-one has ever been there. So yeah, it's pretty eerie.' 
 It was now deemed too dangerous for tourists to return, and Mackley himself kept a safe distance.
'I know that it can blow up without warning at any time,' he told Stuff. 'It's Russian roulette.
'Something’s not highly likely to happen today, but if you were going out there every day, something will happen eventually.' 

The eruption trapped tourists on the island, many unable to outrun the plumes of acidic gas and ash that surrounded them.
Some saw their entire families wiped out, others suffered excruciating burns to nearly all of their bodies and many have undergone dozens of surgeries or been placed into long comas.
Among the list of victims was Melbourne father Paul Browitt and his 21-year-old daughter Krystal. 
His 23-year-old daughter Stephanie received third degree burns to 70 per cent of her body and lost a number of her fingers. 
She was one of the few survivors who was airlifted off the island by a rescue helicopter. 
What was once a tourism hotspot that brought in more than $4million a year, was now a deserted and burned up wasteland
What was once a tourism hotspot that brought in more than $4million a year, was now a deserted and burned up wasteland
The burned skeletal remains of tourism buildings stand alone and look ready to tumble at any moment
The burned skeletal remains of tourism buildings stand alone and look ready to tumble at any moment
A damaged helicopter with a broken blade is one of the few things that remains standing on the island
A damaged helicopter with a broken blade is one of the few things that remains standing on the island
A white plume of smoke puffs out of the resting volcano
The island has remained deserted since its eruption in December 2019
The eruption trapped tourists on the island, many unable to outrun the plumes of acidic gas and ash that surrounded them
Photographs showed only one, damaged helicopter remains on the island.
The force of the eruption had lifted the vehicle off its landing pad and badly bent one of its main rotor blades.   
The burned remains of a building are one of the few things still standing on the abandoned island
The burned remains of a building are one of the few things still standing on the abandoned island
Authorities have stopped anyone from visiting the island since its eruption in December 2019
Authorities have stopped anyone from visiting the island since its eruption in December 2019
Mackley lamented the fact there were plenty of hours in the day when the island was deserted and the volcano could have erupted
Mackley lamented the fact there were plenty of hours in the day when the island was deserted and the volcano could have erupted
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