Search for body fails on New Zealand's Raoul island

March 29, 2006

According to a statement by a police officer sent to Raoul Island in order to find the body of Mark Kearny, 33, who worked on researches on volcanoes on Raoul Island, Kearny was checking the temperature of the crater lake on March 17 when it erupted, blowing trees over, throwing boulders into the air, and burying the surrounding area in mud up to 5m deep. A team of specialists has been sent to the island, but it is likely that the immense heat has destroyed the body of Mr Kearny.