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Eva Gallot
Updated ,first published
Tauranga/Melbourne: An Australian tourist has described his terrifying escape from a landslide at Mount Maunganui on New Zealand’s North Island, saying he was swimming in a pool when a caravan smashed through a cinder block wall and crashed down beside him.
Multiple people are missing after the landslide at about 9.30am (7.30am AEDT) wiped out parts of the Beachside Holiday Park in Mount Maunganui, a popular tourist spot in the Bay of Plenty region along the northern coast of New Zealand. Police District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the number was in the “single figures” while Emergency Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed children were among those unaccounted for.
Speaking to a Stuff reporter, Sonny Worrall from Newcastle said he had to dive into the next pool to avoid being struck.
“As I’m swimming, I heard this huge landslide behind me, trees cracking, and there was a caravan that almost hit me. I was just fearing for my life,” he said. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”
Still visibly shaken, he said the scene felt “like a movie”.
“Luckily, there were no children in the kids’ pool. But who knows – there could have been someone inside the caravan that was swept over.”
Fire and Emergency NZ commander William Pike said voices were initially heard in the rubble but no survivors had been recovered by late Thursday.
“Members of the public … tried to get into the rubble and did hear some voices,” he told reporters at the site. “Our initial fire crew arrived and … were able to hear the same. Shortly after our initial crew arrived, we withdrew everyone from the site due to possible movement and slip.”
No sign of life had been detected since, he said.
“We’re going right through [the night] until we’ve rescued anyone,” he said. “It’s a complex and high-risk environment.”
Pike said the slip, which hit the back of the pools at the campground, was still moving when emergency services responded. They would now try to “de-layer” part of the rubble.
Anderson said it was “possible we will find someone alive”. Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said some of the people who were unaccounted for had checked out of the holiday park without informing officials.
Another Australian tourist, Glynn Jones, had been walking on the beach and was just about to return to his hotel opposite the Mount Hot Pools when he heard a crack and looked up.
“I just saw the whole landslide coming – a pōhutakawa tree coming,” he said.
“Then all of a sudden a caravan got tossed up in the air and then the [tree] went up in the air and landed on its side. It was horrendous.”
Jones said his son and grandchildren from Wellington were staying at the campground but were OK.
“Whoever is under there, all we can do is hope and pray,” he said.
Penny Carnaby saw the devastation unfold from the apartments directly across the road.
She heard a “loud crack” and rushed to the verandah.
“I just saw it keep coming and coming, and everyone was running and there was screaming and yelling … It just happened so fast. It was just horrific.”
She said in the desperate minutes before emergency services arrived, bystanders raced to the scene of the slip to help.
“There was nothing that they could do, because there’s so much dirt,” a tearful Carnaby told Stuff. “It took out the whole kitchen block.”
Heavy rains have caused widespread damage on the east coast of the North Island, with homes evacuated, thousands without power and roads closed.
Geoscientists are now assessing the mountain to determine whether it is safe.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on X that he was “actively monitoring situations across the country – including the major incident in Mount Maunganui”.
New Zealand forecaster MetService has lifted all weather warnings in the North Island as the tropical low moves east. Some warnings remain in place for the South Island, but they are expected to ease on Thursday.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said officials were making urgent inquiries with local authorities to determine whether any Australians had been affected.
“Our thoughts are with those affected by the landslide at New Zealand’s Mount Maunganui,” they said.
Separately, two people were killed when a landslide hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay.
Stuff.co.nz, AP, Reuters
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