Multiple people missing after landslide at New Zealand campsite

WELLINGTON: A landslide smashed into a campsite in rain-swept northern New Zealand on Thursday (Jan 22), leaving multiple people missing under tonnes of mud.

Heavy rains had caused widespread damage and left thousands without power. Homes were evacuated and roads closed as the heavy rain hit almost the entire eastern seaboard of the North Island.

The landslide happened at 9.30am local time (4.30am, Singapore time), sending rubble barrelling down on the campsite in Mount Maunganui, a popular tourist spot on the northern coast of New Zealand.

Mounds of earth buried and crushed a shower block at the campsite, which lies at the foot of extinct volcano Mount Maunganui, video and photo images on local media showed. The landslip also hit several campervans.

Voices were briefly heard calling for help from beneath the rubble, witnesses and emergency officials said.

"Whilst the land's still moving there, they're in a rescue mission," Assistant Police Commissioner Tim Anderson told reporters at the scene.

"I can't be drawn on numbers. What I can say is that it is single figures.

"It is possible we could find someone alive."

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. "There were some vehicles that were moved. 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."

Visiting Canadian tourist Dion Siluch, 34, said he was relaxing at the now-evacuated Mount Hot Pools complex by the mountain when it hit.

"I was in a massage at that mountain pools and the whole room started shaking," he told AFP.

"When I walked out, there was a caravan in the pool, and there's a mudslide that missed me by about 30 feet," Siluch said.

"It was all very confusing. I wasn't sure if someone had driven off the road and into the pool. It took me a while to realise that the mountain had collapsed and had pushed everything into the pool."

"PEOPLE SCREAMING"

The tourist said he had seen another landslip about an hour earlier but took little notice.

Police later arrived by helicopter and told people to evacuate, Siluch said.

"I feel bad for the people affected."

Hundreds of families at the site were evacuated and emergency services were working to locate anybody who remained in the area, authorities said at a press conference.

People at the campsite had instantly tried to dig into the rubble and heard voices, Fire and Emergency commander William Pike told reporters.

First responders had detected signs of life in the rubble but withdrew after concerns of further ground movement, he said.

"My understanding was members of the public ... tried ‌to get into the rubble and did hear some voices. Our initial fire crew arrived and were able to hear the same. Shortly after our initial crew arrived we withdrew everyone from ‍the site ‌due to the possible movement of the slip," Pike added.

Asked if voices had been heard since then, he said: "Not that I know of, no."

Local media cited Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell as saying children were among those missing and that helicopters had been deployed to help with search and rescue efforts.

Hiker Mark Tangney saw people fleeing the camp and ran to help, the New Zealand Herald reported.

"I could just hear people screaming, so I just parked up and ran to help," he told the paper.

"I was one of the first there. There were six or eight other guys there on the roof of the toilet block with tools just trying to take the roof off because we could hear people screaming: 'Help us, help us, get us out of here'," Tangney said.

Later, the voices stopped, he said.

PEOPLE MISSING ELSEWHERE AFTER LANDSLIDE, CAR WASHED AWAY

Another landslide struck a house in neighbouring Papamoa and two people were missing, police said.

In another incident on Wednesday, a person was missing after being washed away in their vehicle north ‌of Auckland.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on X that he was "actively monitoring situations across the country", including in Mt Maunganui.

"The good news is everyone responded very quickly. There was time to get prepared, and that helps to mitigate and create a strong response," Mitchell told Radio NZ.

The New Zealand Transport Authority reported road closures in Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato, and local authorities said some small communities were cut off due to damage to the roads.

New Zealand forecaster MetService has lifted all weather warnings in the North Island as the tropical low moves east. Some warnings remain in place for the South Island, but they are expected to ease on ‌Thursday, it said.