New Zealand police have confirmed that five people have died and eight are missing after White Island volcano erupted on Monday as tourists visited.

Thirty-four people survived, with 31 still receiving treatment in hospital.

Two British women were among those receiving treatment, said the UK High Commissioner to New Zealand, Laura Clarke.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he "feared" three of the five confirmed dead were Australian.

Morrison said that 24 Australians were onboard a cruise ship exploring the island in the Bay of Plenty when the volcano erupted. Of those, 13 people had been hospital.

listed and 11 were unaccounted for, he said.

"This is a terrible tragedy, a time of great innocence and joy interrupted by the horror of that eruption," Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

Also among those listed as missing or injured were US, Chinese, Malaysian and New Zealand citizens.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference on Tuesday that she shared the "unfathomable grief" of those who had lost loved ones.

Tourists were seen walking inside the crater of White Island volcano moments before it erupted. Ardern said further rescue efforts for the missing were now "very sadly a recovery operation".

News Credit: BBC