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Two more people have died following a volcanic eruption Monday on New Zealand’s White Island police have announced.

The official death toll now stands at eight, according to a New Zealand police release issued on Wednesday afternoon, EST.

The newly-reported deaths came after authorities said they had confirmed six people had died and the bodies of eight other people were believed to remain on the island. That brings the suspected total death count to 16.

Many of those who survived the blast suffered horrific burns. Another 28 people are still hospitalized, including 23 in critical condition.

Forty-seven people were on the popular tourist island at the time of the eruption, some of whom were walking along the rim of the crater. 

Survivors ran into the sea to escape the scalding steam and ash and emerged covered in burns, said those who first helped them.

 ‘Eruptions in the next 24 hours are still likely’ as New Zealand island volcano vents again, GeoNet warns

A majority of the burns, said Dr. John Kenealy, clinical director of surgery at Counties Makanau, were severe. Some patients’ burns covered 90% to 95% of their bodies.

“This number of burns is unprecedented in New Zealand,” Kenealy said, “and in the rest of the world.”

New Zealand ordered 186,000 square inches of skin grafts from the United States to aid the burn victims.

Contributing: Joshua Bote, USA TODAY; The Associated Press