Atlanta Woman Dies From Burns In New Zealand Volcano Eruption

ATLANTA, GA – The Atlanta woman who was injured in New Zealand’s White Island volcano eruption Dec. 9 died Sunday, reports the New York Post. Her death brings the number of fatalities to 17, according to police and a report.

Mayuri “Mary” Singh, who was traveling with her husband Pratap “Paul” Singh, died at Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland, New Zealand from treatment complications, which included skin grafts on burns covering 70 percent of her body, a family friend told local outlet 11Alive.

The Atlanta couple were among the 47 tourists exploring the island when the volcano erupted Dec. 9. Both were injured in the eruption, suffering burns. Paul was burned on 40 percent of his body and remains hospitalized, says the New York Post.

The couple were passengers on the Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Ovation of the Seas, that had left Sydney two days earlier. They may have been on a shore excursion to White Island at the time of the eruption.

Special medical teams were heading to New Zealand from Australia, Britain and the United States after the eruption. Skin banks were also sending tissue to New Zealand hospitals to use for grafts, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.

Authorities said a military team landed on the island Dec. 13 to retrieve the bodies of victims despite the risk of another eruption, The Associated Press reported.

At the time of the deadly volcanic explosion, 47 tourists and their guides were on the island. Six bodies of those killed in the incident were removed from the island Friday by teams wearing hazmat suits, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

A total of 25 remain hospitalized in critical condition. Two people — Winona Langford, 17, of Sydney, and New Zealand tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman, 40 — remain missing and are presumed dead.