A landslide has smashed into a beachfront holiday park at Mount Maunganui on New Zealand’s North Island, leaving several people missing — including a young girl — after days of intense rain triggered slips across the region.
Emergency crews were searching mud and debris at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on Thursday after the slip came down from Mauao — the landmark also known as Mount Maunganui — about 9.30am local time, according to reporting by ABC News. The landslide hit campervans, cars and tents, and struck a toilet-and-shower block, authorities said. ABC News reported Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews initially heard voices from under the rubble when they arrived, but had not heard further signs since. Police said the number missing was in “single figures”, ABC News reported.
The incident comes amid widespread flooding and storm damage across parts of the North Island, with national forecaster MetService issuing a rare red warning for “a threat to life” in multiple regions, according to ABC News’ live coverage. Rescue operations have been complicated by unstable ground, with emergency managers repeatedly warning that safety conditions at the site are changing.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s commander at the scene, William Pike, said crews would continue searching, ABC News reported. Search teams have included sniffer dogs and heavy machinery, and St John Ambulance declared a major incident as police, firefighters and paramedics responded.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed a young girl was among those missing, ABC News reported. Mitchell said the situation remained fluid and the focus was still on rescue, while also noting that responders had to factor in land stability and other safety risks. He said geoscientists would assess the area before it was reopened, ABC News reported.
Tauranga’s mayor, Mahé Drysdale, said authorities were still trying to confirm exactly how many people were unaccounted for because they were working through lists of those checked in at the holiday park, according to ABC News. Drysdale also warned that some people may have left without notifying staff, complicating efforts to reconcile who was at the site at the time.
Witness accounts underlined the speed and violence of the slip. One witness, Nix Jaques, told RNZ she heard an “incredibly loud” noise and turned to see the hillside moving onto structures, ABC News reported. Jaques said vehicles were shifted and the slide came down onto an ablutions block, where she believed people may have been showering.
An Australian holidaymaker, Sonny Worrall, described being in the nearby hot pools when he heard a tree crack and saw the slide approaching. “People were in the pools, they were jumping out, running, they were screaming,” he told TVNZ, as reported by ABC News. Worrall said he ran as a caravan was pushed behind him, describing the experience as the scariest thing he had ever been through.
The rest of the holiday park was evacuated as emergency crews cordoned off the landslide zone and began methodical searches. ABC News reported that the Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club was being used as a triage centre and evacuation point, while additional community facilities opened their doors to displaced campers and locals.
In an indication of the mood in the community, Surf Life Saving New Zealand cancelled an upcoming lifesaving sport competition scheduled for the weekend at the Mount Maunganui club. The organisation said it would not be appropriate or logistically possible to proceed while people remained unaccounted for, ABC News reported.
The geographical setting adds another layer of complexity. Mauao is an extinct volcano and a sacred Māori site that also draws tourists and campers in large numbers. ABC News reported the mountain has a history of slips, including a closure for nearly a year in 2012 following landslides.
The Mount Maunganui operation is not the only search under way. Police said two people were missing after a separate landslide in Welcome Bay, near Tauranga, where at least one house was damaged and two people escaped, ABC News reported.
Police district commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said crews could not move in until the scene was safe because “we can’t put our staff in there if the earth’s still moving”, ABC News reported. Anderson also said, in relation to the Mount Maunganui site, that it was possible someone could still be found alive, while cautioning that authorities could not yet confirm an exact number of missing people, ABC News reported.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government was “doing everything we can” to support affected communities and urged people to follow local authority advice, according to ABC News’ live blog. Mitchell and Luxon had been receiving briefings and were monitoring events across the country, Luxon said, with Mitchell on the ground at Mount Maunganui.
