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Landslide Leaves Two Dead, Several Trapped in New Zealand Campground
(MENAFN) A catastrophic landslide triggered by record-breaking rainfall has claimed at least two lives and left multiple people missing—including children—after tearing through a campground on New Zealand's northern coast Thursday.
The deadly mudslide engulfed a campsite at Mount Maunganui, crushing tents and hurling a campervan into nearby hot pools. Witnesses described harrowing scenes to the New Zealand Herald, reporting they heard desperate screams for help emanating from inside a toilet block immediately following the slide. Rescuers frantically searched but couldn't locate the trapped victims, and the anguished voices went silent after approximately 15 minutes.
The Tauranga region and the broader Western Bay of Plenty District, where Mount Maunganui sits, experienced their wettest day ever recorded—approximately two and a half months' worth of rainfall cascading down in just 12 hours. The deluge knocked out power to thousands of residents, with the majority of outages concentrated along the North Island's east coast.
Police confirmed discovering two bodies at Welcome Bay Road in the Tauranga area, with another person at a property in the vicinity seriously injured, according to media.
Authorities indicated earlier that two people went missing after a slip descended toward properties on the road overnight. At least one house on Welcome Bay Road sustained damage from the landslide, while others were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Multiple people still remain missing at the campsite a Mt Maunganui campsite, after a large slip came down on campervans and a shower block on Thursday.
The search operation has expanded to include a man north of Auckland who vanished Wednesday after floodwaters swept him away while attempting to cross a river.
"Police, alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand, are working to locate and rescue people trapped in a landslide that came down off Mount Maunganui at 9.30 am today," Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said, according to Radio New Zealand.
He urged the public to stay away from the campsite and surrounding roads while operations continue and said efforts were also ongoing to find the two missing people in Papamoa.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon warned that extreme weather continues to generate perilous conditions across the North Island.
"Right now, the government is doing everything we can to support those impacted," Luxon wrote on the US-based social media platform X. He said authorities were closely monitoring developments nationwide, including the major incident at Mount Maunganui, where Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell was on the ground.
Emergency teams continue working against time as deteriorating weather conditions threaten to hamper rescue efforts for those still unaccounted for.
The deadly mudslide engulfed a campsite at Mount Maunganui, crushing tents and hurling a campervan into nearby hot pools. Witnesses described harrowing scenes to the New Zealand Herald, reporting they heard desperate screams for help emanating from inside a toilet block immediately following the slide. Rescuers frantically searched but couldn't locate the trapped victims, and the anguished voices went silent after approximately 15 minutes.
The Tauranga region and the broader Western Bay of Plenty District, where Mount Maunganui sits, experienced their wettest day ever recorded—approximately two and a half months' worth of rainfall cascading down in just 12 hours. The deluge knocked out power to thousands of residents, with the majority of outages concentrated along the North Island's east coast.
Police confirmed discovering two bodies at Welcome Bay Road in the Tauranga area, with another person at a property in the vicinity seriously injured, according to media.
Authorities indicated earlier that two people went missing after a slip descended toward properties on the road overnight. At least one house on Welcome Bay Road sustained damage from the landslide, while others were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Multiple people still remain missing at the campsite a Mt Maunganui campsite, after a large slip came down on campervans and a shower block on Thursday.
The search operation has expanded to include a man north of Auckland who vanished Wednesday after floodwaters swept him away while attempting to cross a river.
"Police, alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand, are working to locate and rescue people trapped in a landslide that came down off Mount Maunganui at 9.30 am today," Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said, according to Radio New Zealand.
He urged the public to stay away from the campsite and surrounding roads while operations continue and said efforts were also ongoing to find the two missing people in Papamoa.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon warned that extreme weather continues to generate perilous conditions across the North Island.
"Right now, the government is doing everything we can to support those impacted," Luxon wrote on the US-based social media platform X. He said authorities were closely monitoring developments nationwide, including the major incident at Mount Maunganui, where Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell was on the ground.
Emergency teams continue working against time as deteriorating weather conditions threaten to hamper rescue efforts for those still unaccounted for.
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