New Zealand rescuers seek landslide survivors as weather havoc kills two

WELLINGTON – Rescue workers combed through rubble on Jan 22 at a campsite in New Zealand as they searched for several missing people, including children, following a landslide triggered by heavy rain that caused widespread damage and left thousands without power.

Homes were evacuated and roads closed as the rain lashed almost the entire eastern seaboard of North Island, killing two people, while the police put the number of those missing after the landslide in the single digits.

Rescuers at the campsite in the tourist spot of Mount Maunganui will use earth-moving equipment to claw away layers of debris as they work through the night to locate the missing, emergency services said in a statement.

“This is a complex and high-risk environment,” said Ms Megan Stiffler, a fire and emergency services official. “The teams will be operating overnight until the search is complete.”

The number of people missing was in the “single figures”, police superintendent Tim Anderson said at a press conference, adding: “It is possible we could find someone alive.”

Helicopters and search-and-rescue dogs fanned out in the hunt, while the media said 8,000 people are still without power, down from 16,000 earlier. No deaths had yet been confirmed.

Signs of life detected

One witness, Ms Nix Jaques, told Radio NZ she heard an incredibly loud noise as she was about to walk up a mountain.

“I turned around and I could see the land coming down onto some structures,” she said. “There were some vehicles that were moved. It came down on an ablutions block – I believe there were some people in the showers – and it shifted a camper van, there was a family with a camper van.”

No voices have been heard in the rubble since fears of further ground movement prompted first responders to withdraw despite detecting signs of life, said fire and emergency commander William Pike.

“My understanding was members of the public... tried to get into the rubble and did hear some voices,” he said, adding that the sounds were also heard by a fire crew at the scene.

“Shortly after our initial crew arrived, we withdrew everyone from the site due to the possible movement of the slip,” Mr Pike said.

Children were among those missing, the media said, citing New Zealand’s Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell.

People missing elsewhere

The police said they found the bodies of two people who went missing after a landslide engulfed a house in the suburb of Papamoa on Jan 22.

A third was missing after a vehicle was washed away north of Auckland on Jan 21.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on social media platform X that the government was doing all it could to support those affected.

“We are standing with these local communities in the response – and we will stand with them in the recovery too,” he added on X.

The transport authorities said roads had been closed in the areas of Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato, while the local authorities said road damage had cut off some small communities.

Weather officials have lifted all North Island warnings as a low-pressure system, also known as a tropical low, moves east. REUTERS