Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been active since May, and thousands of residents have fled from their homes. However, tourists are arriving to watch its activities from a distance. One such group was touring the island's coastline. It consisted of 49 passengers and three crew members on board, and they wanted to watch lava flowing from Hawaii's active volcano into the ocean. Suddenly, the volcano erupted, and a ball of lava landed on the boat injuring nearly 20 occupants.
New Zealand Herald reports that the boat was off the island's East coast and the “lava bomb” fell through the roof of the boat and scattered volcanic debris.
The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency has indicated that four of the injured were taken by ambulances to the hospital. One of the injured was a 20-year-old woman who had fractured her femur bone.
The active Kilauea volcano attracts tourists
Any active volcano destroys houses, throws lives into disarray and wreaks havoc in surrounding areas, but the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii attracts tourists. Tour boats are readily available. They depart from Hilo early in the morning and charge $225 to $258 for a three-hour ride. The incident of the “lava bomb” happened to one of the boats of Lava Ocean Tours. The company advertises on its website saying “boat tours are an exciting way to experience the molten hot lava entering the sea."
Shane Turpin was the captain of the boat involved in the incident.
He has said that his boat was nearly 250m away from the lava, and as they were leaving the area, there was the explosion. He also said there was no warning sign of the impending explosion.
Kilauea volcano gave no warning
The captain of the boat knows the Kilauea volcano well because he has lived on the Big Island since 1983 and has been navigating lava tourist boats for many years.
According to The Guardian, Shane Turpin has been observing and documenting these explosions for a long time. In his opinion, the sudden explosion without any warning signs before the blast was a new phenomenon. “There’s something new. There’s something really new,” he said.
The US Coast Guard has demarcated a safety zone where lava flows into the ocean off the Big Island.
Vessels should not violate that, but for experienced operators, the norms are relaxed provided they possess a special license to get close to the action.
This volcano in Hawaii has regularly been erupting for the past 35 years. It has entered a new phase by spurting lava through newly formed fissures in a residential neighborhood.
