Conservationist missing after Pacific island eruption

A helicopter evacuated five conservation workers from an erupting volcano in the South Pacific yesterday, leaving behind a man who went missing when it began spewing ash, steam and mud into the sky.

Helicopter John Funnell told TV One there was devastation around the crater lake area of Raoul Island, a nature reserve in New Zealand's remote Kermadec Islands.

The volcano erupted for about 30 minutes starting at 8:21am on Thursday following strong earthquakes that began on Sunday night, GNS Science, the country's main geological science group, said in a statement.

The eruption in one of the island's three main craters, known as Green Lake, coated the area round the lake in mud and ash up to 5m deep.

The eruption threw out mud, rocks and a plume of steam. No lava or molten rock was reported flowing from the vent.