One Twitter user Michael Schade posted on @sch: "My God, White Island volcano in New Zealand erupted today for the first time since 2001. My family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat and about to leave when we saw it. Boat ride home tending to people, our boat rescue was indescribable."
The post had 10.8K retweets and 19.6K likes.
He added; "This is so hard to believe. Our whole tour group were literally standing at the edge of the main crater not 30 minutes before. My thoughts are with the families of those currently unaccounted for, the people recovering now, and especially the rescue workers."
One user posted: "Rescue work underway. People were on the island at the time of the eruption. Reports of 20 people injured. Sending prayers."
"So sorry to hear this about the eruption in New Zealand," read another post.
A clipping showing scores of tourists waiting on the seashore to be rescued even as the volcano bellowed out ash into the atmosphere garnered 388.3K views.
People posted that they were praying for those injured or missing after the eruption.
One user remarked: "I wish everyone a recovery. So sad. I understand five persons have died."
Police were quoted by media reports to say that five persons had died. Reports said that around 20 persons were injured and several others unaccounted for after the eruption.
One user questioned the presence of tourists on the island.
"Absolutely horrific. It's my understanding that there were geological warnings for weeks about the volcano. How were tourists still allowed to be on the island?" the post read.
( With inputs from IANS )