A landslide in the popular tourist spot of Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, has rescue workers combing through rubble at a campsite on Thursday. Two people have died, and the police estimate that the number of missing people, children among them, is in single digits. Helicopter and rescue dogs are searching the area.
On Wednesday, the landslide, triggered by heavy rains, snapped power links to thousands and caused widespread damage. Roads were closed, and homes were evacuated as heavy rains covered the eastern seaboard of the North Island.
Rescue teams are working through the night using earthmoving equipment to claw through layers of debris, according to a statement from emergency services.
“This is a complex and high-risk environment,” added Megan Stiffler, a fire and emergency services official. “The teams will be operating overnight until the search is complete.”
The number of missing was in “single figures”, police superintendent Tim Anderson told a press conference, adding, “It is possible we could find someone
alive.”
In the immediate aftermath, 16,000 people lost power due to snapped powerlines. The numbers have since gone down to 8,000.
Signs of Life
One witness, Nix Jaques, told Radio NZ she heard an incredibly loud noise as she was about to walk up a mountain.
“I turned around, and I could see the land coming down onto some structures,” she said. “It came down on an ablutions block – I believe there were some people in the showers – and it shifted a campervan, there was a family with a campervan.”
Emergency Fire Commander Willian Pike said that no voices have been heard through the rubble since the first responders withdrew due to fears of further ground movement.
“My understanding was members of the public … tried to get into the rubble and did hear some voices,” he said, adding that the sounds were also heard by a fire crew at the scene.
“Shortly after our initial crew arrived, we withdrew everyone from the site, due to the possible movement of the slip,” Pike said.
Second Landslide
Police said they found the bodies of two people who went missing after a landslide engulfed a house in the suburb of Papamoa on Thursday. A third was missing after a vehicle was washed away north of Auckland on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has assured that the government is doing all it can to support those affected.
“We are standing with these local communities in the response – and we will stand with them in the recovery too,” he added on X.
Weather officials have lifted all warnings over the North Island now that the tropical low has moved east.
(with inputs from Reuters)
