Six individuals remain unaccounted for after a landslide swept through a bustling campground on New Zealand’s North Island, prompting emergency teams to meticulously search through the debris.
The landslide, spurred by intense rainfall, struck at 9:30 AM on Thursday local time at Mount Maunganui, situated on the island’s eastern coastline. The cascade of earth and debris descended onto the crowded campsite in Tauranga, where families were relishing their summer school holidays.
During a news briefing, Police District Commander Tim Anderson revealed that, apart from the six missing people, authorities were attempting to reach three additional individuals.
“We don’t believe they are located here, but we still need to conduct that investigation,” Anderson stated on Friday.
No fatalities have been reported at the campground so far.
However, in the nearby suburb of Papamoa, two lives were lost in a separate landslide on Thursday, according to police. The Chinese ambassador, Wang Xiaolong, mentioned on X that one of the deceased was a Chinese national.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Friday visited areas hit by recent flooding.
Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale told Radio New Zealand that while search-and-rescue teams had continued working at the campground through the night, there had been no progress in finding missing people.
Images showed recreational vehicles and at least one structure crushed at the campsite.
“We’re here with the families, and as you can imagine, just that uncertainty of where they are and when we might have a result is pretty hard,” Drysdale said.
He said the area remained unstable and emergency management and recovery minister Mark Mitchell told Radio New Zealand it was a challenging environment.
Mitchell said police were checking if some campers may have left without telling authorities.
NZ Police commissioner Richard Chambers told the New Zealand Herald the scale of the disaster and the risks at the site could delay rescue efforts.
Heavy rains soaked much of the North Island’s east coast this week and caused widespread damage. Source: AAP / Cameron Avery
“It could be days, and we appreciate that everybody is anxious and waiting for their loved ones, and for some answers, but we also have to be very careful,” he said.
The landslide occurred after heavy rains soaked much of the North Island’s east coast this week and caused widespread damage.
Roads remained closed in some of the worst-hit areas, making some North Island towns inaccessible by land.
The civil defence organisation in Tairāwhiti District said people were walking over landslides to collect water and food from welfare hubs and warned against this due to fears of further landslides.
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