Emergency services in New Zealand are searching for several people, including a child, believed missing after a landslide struck a campsite in Mount Maunganui during record-breaking storms that have caused widespread damage across the North Island.
Emergency Minister Mark Mitchell described parts of the east coast as resembling a 'war zone', with helicopters deployed to rescue families from rooftops and states of emergency declared in five regions. The landslide hit on Thursday morning at a campground in the tourist hotspot, with witnesses reporting overturned camper vans and uprooted trees.
Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman William Pike said first responders heard calls for help from within the rubble. Alister McHardy, a nearby fisherman, told the NZ Herald he heard 'rolling thunder and cracking of trees' before seeing the hillside collapse. An Australian man, Sonny Worrall, narrowly escaped while swimming in a nearby pool.
In Papamoa, south of Mount Maunganui, one person suffered serious injuries and two others are missing after a landslide hit a home. Police are also searching for a man in his 40s swept away at a river crossing near Warkworth. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government is doing everything possible to support those affected.
A tropical low is expected to bring more heavy rain, with the National Emergency Management Agency warning of further landslides and flooding on already saturated ground.
