New Zealand officials file charges over deadly White Island volcano eruption - CNN

The country's workplace health and safety regulator, WorkSafe New Zealand, announced Monday that it had filed charges against 10 organizations and three individuals, alleging they did not do what was reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of workers and visitors to White Island.

"This was an unexpected event, but that does not mean it was unforeseeable and there is a duty on operators to protect those in their care," said WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes.

In the weeks before the eruption, New Zealand volcano monitoring service GeoNet raised the alert level on White Island to Level 2 out of 5, meaning there was "moderate to heightened volcanic unrest."

Forty-seven people were on the island at the time of the blast, including honeymooners and families, and Parkes said they had gone there with the expectation that systems were in place to make sure they made it home safely.

"That's an expectation which goes to the heart of our health and safety culture," he said.