abc.net.au/news/white-island-tourism-companies-have-charges-dismissed/102843994Only one defendant remains on trial over the deadly Whakaari White Island volcano disaster after a judge dismissed charges against two companies this morning.
ID Tours Limited and Tauranga Tourism Services were local agents that formed part of the supply chain between tourists from the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship and White Island. They were among the 13 parties charged with breaches of New Zealand's workplace health and safety laws after 22 people died when Whakaari erupted in December 2019.
Last week, the two companies applied to have charges against them dismissed and today Judge Evangelos Thomas granted that application. "Neither Tauranga Tourism nor ID Tours had workers on Whakaari, it was never their workplace, they did not influence or direct the workers of the tour operators in the carrying out of their work," he said while delivering his ruling in Auckland.Five other defendants pleaded guilty before the trial began and a sixth had charges dismissed.