Chief coroner confirms missing pair from White Island eruption are deceased

The chief coroner has ruled that two people missing following the Whakaari/White Island eruption on December 9 are deceased.

Hayden Marshall-Inman of New Zealand and Winona Langford of Australia were presumed dead after search efforts failed to recover their bodies after the tragedy.

Police and the New Zealand Defence Force made extensive searches for the missing bodies after recovering the others from the island.

There were reports that one of the bodies had been seen in the water two days after the eruption.

The chief coroner has ruled that both Mr Marshall-Inman and Ms Langford died on Whakaari/White Island.

It confirms the official number of those deceased following the disaster is 20, 18 of whom died in New Zealand and two in Australia.