‘A caravan almost hit me’: Eyewitness dived out of path of campground slip

Thursday, 22 January 2026

An Australian tourist has described his terrifying escape from a landslide at Mount Maunganui, saying he was swimming in a pool when a caravan smashed through a cinder block wall and crashed down beside him.

The landslide wiped out parts of Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at the base of Mauao on Thursday morning. Stuff understands at least six people, including several children, are believed to be missing.

Speaking to a Stuff reporter, the survivor 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, Worrall 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.”

MP for Bay of Plenty Tom Rutherford said caravans, a toilet block, cars, and tents were affected by the landslide.

Dion Siluch said he was having a massage at the Mount Pools when the “whole room started shaking like crazy”.

As he was being evacuated he saw a large caravan that had slipped down on to the pools from the campground at Pilot Bay.

Signs of life, then nothing

Police established a base at the Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club, where officers were working through a register of campers to determine who was unaccounted for.

Officials told reporters on Thursday afternoon it was “possible we will find someone alive”, after voices were initially heard under the landslide.

“At the moment we have the parents, and the husband of people we’re currently trying to rescue [people] in the campground,” Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said.

“There’s got to be a high degree of sensitivity for the people sitting in the building behind us.”

Fire and Emergency Commander William Pike said their teams would work through the night until the had rescued someone, though no signs of life had been heard since the morning.

Police said they were initially called some time after 9.30am on Thursday and evacuated the campsite.

Officers were seen pushing back crowds of people who had come out of their Mount apartments to watch.

“It’s for your safety, We don’t know if another slip will happen,” one officer said.

Members of the public were advised to avoid the area.

Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said in a statement they were aware some people were unaccounted for and were working to support campground staff and visitors.

“This is a deeply distressing event, and our priority right now is the safety and wellbeing of those involved,” he said.

Mount Maunganui’s Facebook page said Mauao was fully closed to the public until further notice, as the area was unsafe due to the large slips.

‘It just happened so fast’

Penny Carnaby saw the devastation unfold from directly across the road at the apartments.

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.”

Carnaby 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… There’s going be so many people missing.”

‘All we can do is hope and pray’

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.

“Then all of a sudden a caravan got tossed up in the air and then the pōhutakawa went up in the air and landed on its side. It was horrendous.

“There were lots of people around and lots of young guys running in to help.”

Jones said his son and grandchildren from Wellington were staying at the campground but were OK.

He said he’d heard that “someone was looking for their kids” but knew no details.

“Whoever is under there all we can do is hope and pray.”