A woman who warned others of a landslide just moments before she was buried in rubble is being hailed a hero as desperate search efforts continue.
Multiple children are among those unaccounted for after a big landslide destroyed the popular Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on New Zealand’s North Island.
The woman is being praised by locals after she frantically pulled campers from their beds at 5am and warned them of danger so they could start packing up to leave.
In a tragic twist, the same woman later became trapped in a toilet block along with several others when the hillside completely collapsed a few hours later, at about 9.30am on Thursday.
The amenities block was buried in the landslip, with rescuers hearing terrified screams for help, but being unable to hear further cries after about 15 minutes.
‘I just want you to know that one of the women that’s in that shower block, she was a hero,’ a witness, who didn’t want to be named, told the New Zealand Herald.
‘She went around at 5 o’clock this morning and she got us all out of bed and she woke us all up so that we could move out… and she’s not out.’
Foreign tourists, including Australians, were among those caught up in the chaos as caravans, tents, vehicles and toilet amenities were flattened by the slip, which was caused by record-breaking rainfall in recent days.
Would-be rescuers seeking to help those inside the toilet block were ordered to stand down temporarily due to safety concerns, amid fears of a second slip.
The mangled toilet block landed on top of caravans 20 metres from where it initially stood. No one has yet been rescued from the rubble.
The campground has been evacuated and the public urged to avoid the area, as emergency responders launch a desperate search for those feared trapped.
Police District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the number of those missing is in the ‘single figures’, adding that it is ‘possible we will find someone alive’.
Police and Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed that multiple children were among the missing.
Mark Tangney was among the first rescuers on scene after he heard screams and saw holidaymakers fleeing the campground.
‘There were six or eight other guys there on the roof of the toilet block with tools just trying to take the roof off because we could hear people screaming “help us, help us, get us out of here”,’ Mr Tangney told the New Zealand Herald.
‘We went hard for about half an hour and after 15 minutes, the people that were trapped, we couldn’t hear them anymore.’
Australian Sonny Worrall from Newcastle, NSW, was among dozens of holidaymakers caught up in the chaos, describing it as the scariest moment of his life.
He was swimming in the nearby hot pools when he heard a tree crack.
‘I looked behind me and there was a huge landslide coming down,’ he told TVNZ.
‘I turned around and I had to jump out from my seat as fast as I could and just run. Looking behind me, there was a caravan coming right behind me. It all happened in a flash. I was fearing for my life. People were panicking everywhere.’
Rescue efforts ramped up on Thursday afternoon as the police dog squad joined search efforts.
‘We’re going right through [the night] until we’ve rescued everyone,’ Fire and Emergency NZ commander William Park told reporters.
‘It was a significant landslip and the priority was life safety. It’s a complex and high-risk environment.’
Fisherman Alister Hardy heard ‘rolling thunder and cracking of trees’, before looking up and seeing ‘the whole hillside gave way’.
‘There were people running and screaming and I saw people get bowled. There are people trapped,’ he told the New Zealand Herald.
Camper Carly Morley added: ‘The toilet block up the top has been taken out with a number of caravans.
‘It’s all slid right down through the hot pools… there’s been helicopters, surf life savers are over there helping, and they’re just trying to cut into the toilet block at the moment.’
The campground remains closed until further notice.
A second landslip formed behind Mount Maunganui surf club on Thursday afternoon, forcing the building to be evacuated.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that his government was doing everything to support those affected.
‘To the emergency responders, Defence Force personnel, and all those who are putting themselves in harm’s way to keep Kiwis safe, the whole country is grateful,’ he tweeted.
‘We continue to urge people in affected areas to follow the advice of local authorities.’
More than 200km north of Auckland, Mount Maunganui is a popular coastal holiday hotspot famous for its extinct volcano, a sacred Maori site with ocean-view hiking trails.
It comes after Tauranga – the closest city to Mount Maunganui – received 295mm in the 30 hours to 6am on Thursday.
Huge swathes of North Island were smashed by torrential rain on Wednesday, with meteorologists MetService issuing a rare red weather warning for a ‘threat to life’ in several regions and a state of local emergency.
In Warkworth near Auckland, a man in his 40s was swept away in his car in the swollen Mahurangi River, while a passenger managed to scramble to safety.
Police continued their search for the missing motorist on Thursday, while further east, rescue efforts are underway for stranded locals in the remote Tairawhiti region.
People have been trapped on rooftops in Te Araroa, with Mark Law – the helicopter pilot involved in rescue efforts after the deadly 2019 Whakaari-White Island volcanic eruption – telling Radio NZ he was helping to conduct checks in the area.
Another couple in Welcome Bay, near Tauranga, were also rescued after a landslip hit their house, with one seriously injured, according to local MP Tom Rutherford.
Thousands of people in Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Tairawhiti were also left without power after the storm and flooding.
