New Zealand Landslide Tragedy: Rescue Teams Race Against Time After Deadly Slopes Collapse
Emergency crews in New Zealand are engaged in a desperate race against time to locate survivors after catastrophic landslides devastated a residential property and a popular holiday campground on the country's North Island. The disaster, triggered by days of relentless, record-breaking rainfall, has claimed at least two lives, with authorities confirming the number of individuals still unaccounted for is in the "single figures".
Dual Landslide Strikes Claim Lives and Trap Victims
The first devastating slide occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, striking a house in the Welcome Bay community at approximately 4:50 AM local time. While two occupants managed to escape the collapsing structure, tragically, the bodies of two others trapped inside were later recovered by rescue teams. Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed the fatalities, highlighting the sudden and brutal nature of the event.
Hours later, a second, massive landslide tore through the Beachside Holiday Park, situated at the base of the iconic Mount Maunganui. The force of the earth movement crushed vehicles, campervans, and an amenities block, creating a scene of widespread destruction. Minister Mitchell revealed that people were likely using the shower facilities at the precise moment the landslide hit, underscoring the terrifying immediacy of the disaster.
Desperate Search Amidst Unstable Ground
Fire and Emergency New Zealand reported that initial searches at the holiday park site detected voices emanating from beneath the heavy debris, offering a glimmer of hope. However, the perilous conditions forced crews to withdraw temporarily, as the ground remained dangerously unstable, complicating rescue efforts and posing significant risks to responders.
Police have deployed specialist sniffer dog teams to meticulously comb through the rubble at Mount Maunganui in the search for victims. Police Superintendent Tim Anderson reiterated that the number of missing persons remains in the single digits, though by late evening, no further survivors or bodies had been recovered from the holiday park site.
Flooding Compounds the Crisis Across the Region
The landslide emergency is compounded by severe flooding affecting other parts of the North Island. Further north, near Warkworth, a man remains missing after being swept away by raging floodwaters from a road on Wednesday morning. This incident occurred as torrential rain continued to lash large swathes of the region, causing widespread disruption and danger.
The consecutive natural disasters have stretched emergency services, with teams responding to multiple critical incidents across the island. The community is reeling from the impact of the extreme weather, which has transformed familiar landscapes into zones of devastation and tragedy.
