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Six people, including two teenagers, missing after attack Landslide washes away holiday camp on the east coast New Zealand Thursday morning.
Family enjoying school summer vacation at seaside holiday park Mount Maunganui is located in Tauranga, when a huge landslide after hit Heavy rain hits parts of North Island It’s been several days.
Mount Maunganui is one of the Bay of Plenty region’s most important landmarks. It is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every month and is popular with international tourists and New Zealand holidaymakers.
The landslide-hit campsite is at the foothills of Mount Maunganui, also known as Mauao, an extinct volcano that is a popular tourist destination and sacred site. maori Place.
Police confirmed on Friday that two teenagers were among the missing, the youngest of whom was 15 years old.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon Arriving in Tauranga on Friday afternoon and meeting the families of those affected, he described the scene as an “absolute tragedy”.
“They’re very sad, I know New Zealand Grieve with them. This is a time of high anxiety.
“All we can do is make sure we provide the best support for these families and I’m very confident about that.”
“We have 25 people working with the contractor, using excavators and dogs and police operations to make sure every inch of soil removed is thoroughly inspected,” Fire and Emergency Officer David Guard said.
However, New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said the scale of the disaster and risks at the site could delay rescue efforts. new zealand herald.
“It could take a few days. We understand everyone is anxiously waiting for their loved ones, waiting for some answers, but we also have to be very careful,” Mr Chambers said.
Three other foreign tourists who did not check out and were on the camper list are also considered missing.
“We don’t believe they are here, but we still have to investigate,” said District Commander Tim Anderson.
Mr Anderson said they had found no signs of life under the rubble “but we are living in hope” and were still “working 24/7” and “leaving no stone unturned”.
“We are aware of six people who are unaccounted for and we are working on a list of further three,” he told reporters.
“The other three are unlikely to be within the scope of the scenario we are dealing with but we would like the public to come forward with information in this regard.”
Video from the camp showed rescue workers and sniffer dogs working among crushed caravans and crushed tents.
One tourist said he saw the massive landslide and jumped out of his pool to understand the urgency of the situation, TVNZ reported.
Another landslide has hit Welcome Bay near Tauranga, killing two people including a grandmother and grandson.
One of them is a Chinese citizen, Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong said on X/Twitter on Friday.
The landslides followed days of heavy rain associated with a tropical weather system that dumped heavy rainfall on much of the North Island.
New ZealandEmergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said parts of the east coast were like “war zones”, with helicopters deployed to rescue families trapped on rooftops and a state of emergency declared in several areas.
Authorities said the Bay of Plenty region had its wettest day on record, with the nearby city of Tauranga receiving about 295 millimeters of rain in just over 30 hours, equivalent to two and a half months’ rainfall.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it had responded to more than 230 weather-related calls since Tuesday, including rescues from rooftops and flooded homes.