The outlook is grim for the six individuals who remain unaccounted for after a catastrophic landslide struck a campsite in New Zealand, with authorities fearing no survivors.
The landslide, part of a series triggered by unprecedented rainfall, ravaged the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on the North Island last Thursday.
Rescue teams, continuing their operations around Mount Maunganui near Tauranga, have discovered human remains in several affected sites.
Initial rescue efforts detected voices beneath the debris on the day of the tragedy, but sadly, no further sounds have been detected since then.
Among those missing are two 15-year-olds, Max Furse-Kee and Sharon Maccanico, both students at Pakūranga College in East Auckland.
The list of missing persons also includes Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50, Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20, and two 71-year-olds, Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler and Susan Doreen Knowles.
Rescue efforts are no longer underway; instead, officials are now carrying out a recovery operation, police Superintendent Tim Anderson said.
‘The likelihood of someone being alive is highly unlikely according to the experts, but you could never rule that out,’ Supt Anderson said.
Landslides hit Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park in New Zealand on Thursday
There are six people still missing in the rubble but rescue teams say it is not likely any have survived
Police Superintendent Tim Anderson said affected families have been notified and offered support
Supt Anderson said rescue crews had been ‘focused solely on saving lives’ but that was no longer likely.
‘Search teams have been working through the slip layer by layer, but tragically it is now apparent that we will not be able to bring them home alive,’ he said in a statement.
‘This is heartbreaking news for the families and the dozens of people who have been working day and night, hoping for a positive outcome.
‘We informed the families of this news this morning and we’re continuing to provide them with wraparound support. They are going through something very few people could understand, and we ask that they be given space to grieve.’
NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visited the site and said he was devastated to confirm the news ‘we have all been dreading’.
‘To the families who have lost loved ones – every New Zealander is grieving with you,’ he said.
‘They are grieving incredibly hard, and I know that New Zealand grieves with them.’
Luxon first visited the landslide site to check on first responders and meet affected families on Friday.
NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visited the impacted site on Friday
Emergency workers are still clearing debris at one site after a follow-up landslip which hindered their efforts
The campsite was wiped out by the landslide on Thursday
A makeshift vigil is now forming near the landslide in Mount Maunganui
Max Furse-Kee’s mother posted an update to social media after learning that her son had been impacted by the landslides.
‘Devastatingly my Max was one of the people trapped in the Mt Maunganui slip on Thursday morning,’ she told the New Zealand Herald.
‘While he is still missing and we have no definite answers we know that when we do there will be no good news.
‘Hug your babies, life can change in a moment.’
Tributes have begun flowing in from locals including children, who are forming a makeshift vigil near the landslide in Mount Maunganui.
Thirty-five emergency workers operating heavy machinery are now removing debris from a section of the search area where another partial slip happened Saturday.
The area is being continuously reassessed to ensure safety for workers before any search efforts resume.
More rain is forecast to pummel the area over the weekend, which could further hinder these efforts if rescue crews are required to withdraw from the slip area.
Elsewhere, two others were killed after a landslip wiped out a Welcome Bay home in the Bay of Plenty region, roughly 100km east of Hamilton.
