New Zealand landslide: Several missing at tourist hotspot Mount Maunganui after landslides rip through popular campsite
Several people are missing after a landslide at a campground in the New Zealand tourist hotspot of Mount Maunganui.
Mount Maunganui, a volcanic dome and tourist hotspot, is one of the most popular camp sites in the country. The landslide struck a campground at the base of Mount Maunganui on Thursday morning, overturning campervans, crushing tents, and hitting a toilet and shower block, according to emergency officials.
Rescue teams said they initially heard voices calling for help from beneath the rubble but had detected no further signs of life by late afternoon, as concerns grew about the stability of the hillside. The landslide came after days of torrential rain linked to a tropical weather system, which has dumped extraordinary volumes of rain across large parts of the North Island.
Emergency management and recovery minister Mark Mitchell has said officials have a "rough idea" of how many people are missing in the Mount Maunganui landslide, although they will wait for an exact number before they made any announcements to that effect. He added that dogs had been on site at the landslide trying to detect, locate and identify where people were.
Megan Stiffler, the deputy national commander for the Urban Search and Rescue team, says that rescuers will be working overnight to search for missing people in the landslides at Mount Maunganui campsite and the Welcome Bay area of Papamoa. Rescuers are "carefully removing" debris and heavy machinery is on site, Stiffler said in a statement.
Floods have ravaged other parts of the island's East Coast, which emergency minister Mark Mitchell described as "like a warzone". A man remains missing after he was swept into a river north of Auckland on Wednesday. A short while ago authorities called off the search for him.
The Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club, which had been used as an evacuation spot and control point, has now been evacuated as well due to fears of further landslides. In an earlier post on Facebook, the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service urged people not to go to the surf club unless specifically requested by members of the service.
Prime Minister Chris Luxon is expected to visit disaster-hit areas tomorrow.