Countdown to Disaster

Experience the days, minutes, and seconds leading up to the 2019 White Island Eruption that killed 21 people through the eyes of survivors, rescue workers and the scientists who have been studying the volcano for years. As witnessed through the eyes of the people who were there, many of whom are only now coming out of hospital, and through the rescue workers who risked their own lives, plus the scientists who have been studying the volcano for years and know it intimately, Countdown to Disaster tells of a natural disaster no-one saw coming, yet was completely avoidable. At 2:11p.m. on December 9, 2019, day trippers to a Volcanic Isle in the middle of the Bay of Plenty learned the hard way that nature can be unpredictable and dangerous. The deadly White Island eruption killed 21 people and left 26 more with life changing injuries - some victims still in intensive care months after the tragedy. Countdown to Disaster is the first full-length documentary to recount the tragic volcanic eruption and interrogate whether this disaster was avoidable.