The eruption, which occurred Monday on White Island, was so strong, military specialists had to wear special protective gear and breathing equipment, The Associated Press reported.

Scientists claim the discharged gases are so lethal, that even one breath could cause death.

The searchers were reportedly sent in by helicopter and later helped airlift the bodies to a ship, which was waiting off the Eastern coast of New Zealand. The bodies are set to be taken to Auckland for examination and identification.

Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims praised the military specialists for “their efforts and the bravery they have shown” after they all returned safely from their mission, according to The AP.

Forty-seven tourists, most of them from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, were exploring the island with tour guides during the eruption. Survivors suffered severe skin burns, with some being sent to medical burn units for skin grafts.

Police are currently planning a second recovery effort to locate the two remaining bodies.

A family with ties to the Chicago area has been confirmed to be among the victims, according to reports.

Teen brothers Berend and Matthew Hollander, ages 16 and 13, respectively, were born near Chicago and were confirmed as having been killed in the eruption by officials at the Australian school they were attending, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Their parents, Martin and Barbara Hollander, ages 48 and 50, respectively, are still unaccounted for.

Richmond, Va., newlyweds Matthew and Lauren Urey were on a day trip to White Island from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation when the volcano went off, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Matthew, 36, was airlifted to a hospital in Christchurch with burns over 80 per cent of his body, while Lauren, 32, underwent surgery at an Auckland hospital with burns over 20 per cent of her body, the paper reported.

Matthew later left a frantic voice message at his mother’s home telling her he and his new wife were “very badly burned.”

Barbara Barham, Lauren’s mother, told the Washington Post that she learned her daughter had been hurt when she got a call from Matthew’s mom.

“Her son called and said that they had been on the excursion and there had been a volcano eruption and they were burned very bad,” Barham told the outlet.

A constitutional court in Karlsruhe ruled in favour of the unnamed man, who was sentenced to life in prison and later released in 2002.

The man, a crew member aboard the yacht Apollonia, fatally shot two people and severely injured a third. He has since fought to distance his family’s name from reports about the case, the BBC reported Wednesday.

His name still appears in online searches as part of an archived article in the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, according to reports.

The publication uploaded three reports about the case in 1999 with the man’s full name, the BBC said. He became aware of the articles in 2009 and asked that they are removed from the Internet, claiming they inhibited his “ability to develop his personality,” a court statement said, per the BBC.

The case was initially thrown out in 2012 by a federal court, which ruled that the man’s privacy did not outweigh the public interest or freedom of the press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) had reported.

The ruling could force publications to restrict access to online archives, reports said.

The concept of the “right to be forgotten” has gained traction in recent years, with tech companies being taken to court over online search results.

In 2014, a European Union court ruled that search engine companies have to comply with requests to remove results.

Google and other search engines have fought with the EU over its privacy rules. The continent’s top court ruled in September that the tech giant will not have to apply Europe’s “right to be forgotten” law globally.