An Australian woman has been seriously injured after she fell into a geothermal sinkhole that opened up in a popular tourist village in New Zealand.
The woman fell into the two-metre-wide fumarole when it opened suddenly on a footpath near the entrance of Whakarewarewa thermal village in Rotorua, in central North Island.
Mike Gibbons, the village’s general manager, said the woman’s husband was also injured while trying to help her out of the hole.
“The first attempt to pull her out was by her husband, which is why he also received some injuries,” Gibbons said.
Two guides nearby and a local weaver all ran to assist and “collectively managed to get her out of the hole”.
The woman was taken to Rotorua hospital, where she was in a serious but stable condition on Friday morning. Her husband was said to be in a moderate condition.
Gibbons said he “understood that the couple are from Perth, Australia, and had been visiting family in NZ”.
Fumaroles are geothermal sinkholes that emit steam and volcanic gases, often at extreme temperatures up to 400C.
Whakarewarewa thermal village is a Māori village as well as a tourist attraction. Some of its geothermal hot pools are used for swimming and bathing, but others reach temperatures of 100C-200C and are used for cooking.
The hole was about one metre deep and may have opened up due to recent heavy rain.
“The ground may have been compromised after the recent heavy rainfall,” Gibbons said. He said everyone who lived and worked at the village was “distressed” at the incident.
“Our thoughts are with the family and particularly the lady,” he said. The staff and village residents had held prayers that morning.
The village will be temporarily closed until a full investigation and assessment has been undertaken by Worksafe – New Zealand’s health and safety regulator – and the local council.
