Mount Maunganui, New Zealand — Rescue teams continued intensive operations Thursday after a landslide struck a popular summer campsite at the base of Mount Maunganui on New Zealand’s North Island, leaving several people, including children, unaccounted for amid a period of record-breaking rainfall and widespread storm damage, officials said.
The landslide at the Beachside Holiday Park occurred around 9:30 a.m. local time following days of torrential rain that have battered the North Island’s east coast. Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews, police, helicopters and search dogs are working through unstable terrain as they search for survivors, though no confirmed rescues from the campsite debris have been reported so far, authorities said.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell described parts of the affected east coast as resembling a “war zone,” noting the severity of flooding, landslides and infrastructure damage caused by the storm system. Police Superintendent Tim Anderson said the number of people missing at the campsite was in the “single figures,” though exact figures have not been confirmed and could change as more information becomes available.
In addition to the Mount Maunganui incident, two people were killed and others injured after a separate landslide struck a house in Welcome Bay early Thursday, authorities said. Another person remains missing after being swept away by floodwaters north of Auckland. Local power outages and road closures have been reported across the region as emergency responses continue.
Witnesses at Mount Maunganui described hearing a loud rumble before the hillside collapsed, overturning campervans, crushing tents and burying park facilities under mud and debris. Fire crews initially reported hearing calls for help from beneath the landslide, but those sounds subsided as the unstable ground forced rescuers to pause operations for safety.
Tauranga, the nearby urban centre, recorded nearly 300 mm of rain in roughly 30 hours before the landslide struck, exacerbating saturated slopes and flood risks. Local states of emergency have been declared in several North Island regions, and residents were urged to evacuate low-lying areas and adhere to official safety guidance.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon pledged continued government support for impacted communities and urged the public to follow safety instructions as search and rescue efforts proceed. Authorities stressed the challenging conditions and cautioned that heavy rains could further destabilise the landscape.
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