NZ police call off volcano body search

THE search for two people still missing after the volcanic eruption in New Zealand has been called off.

It’s believed the bodies of 17-year-old Australian girl Winona Langford and Hayden Marshall-Inman, a 40-year-old New Zealand tour guide, were washed out to sea after the White Island/Whakaari volcano erupted on December 9.

After extensive shoreline and aerial searches from the eastern edge of the volcano turned up nothing of significance, police called off the search on Tuesday morning.

The death toll from the eruption stands at 19, including Ms Langford and Mr Marshall-Inman, after the death of a US woman in an Auckland hospital on Sunday.