Tourism companies and those who manage New Zealand’s White Island, where 22 people died as a result of a volcanic eruption in 2019, must pay 5.6 million euros in compensation to the victims, an Auckland court ruled on Friday, AFP reported, citing Agerpres .

Many of the 25 survivors of the eruption suffered severe burns. Five companies responsible for organizing a trip that took 47 tourists to the volcanic island on the day of the eruption have been ordered to pay NZ$10 million (€5.6 million) to victims and their families.

Tour companies and the island’s administrator, Whakaari Management Limited, as well as White Island Tours and helicopter company Volcanic Air Safaris, were also ordered to pay fines. The trial began last July when prosecutors argued that tourists were not informed of the dangers of the eruption, even though tour companies were fully aware of the risks.

The scientific institute GNS, which monitors volcanoes in New Zealand, was also ordered to pay a fine. The compensation payment is a “symbolic recognition” of the victims’ suffering, said Judge Evangelos Thomas of the Auckland District Court.

New Zealand has restricted access to the Isle of Wight after the deadly eruption

The group of tourists were “physically, mentally and emotionally” traumatized by the eruption, he said, and many of them still bear physical scars. The companies were condemned for failing to assess and manage the risks associated with the volcano, the judge said.

No boat or plane tours have been approved to this island since the eruption. 22 people from a group of 47 people, mostly Australian tourists, died in a powerful eruption that occurred on December 9, 2019 at the White Island volcano, located in the north of New Zealand.

Video footage played to the court showed tourists trying to escape a huge cloud of volcanic ash that quickly engulfed them. In one scene, one of the guides yells at the tourists to “go away quickly” and many stumble in a desperate attempt to escape the eruption.