Mt Maunganui landslide: Man distraught after seeing father with ‘his head in his hands’
Friday, 23 January 2026
At least six people - including two teeagers - are unaccounted for after a landslide ploughed into Mt Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. Rescuers are working at the site.
Two people were found dead in a house on Thursday evening - a 70-year-old and a 10-year-old - following a landslide in Pāpāmoa early on Thursday morning.
A driver is still missing in north Auckland after trying to cross a river.
Local states of emergency have been declared in Whangārei, Thames-Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hauraki District and Tairāwhiti.
A Mount Maunganui local has described the harrowing sight of seeing a forlorn father escorted out of the ruined campsite by police.
Mt Maunganui local Colin McGonagle said earth was already starting to move when he chatted to a father and daughter in the campground at 7.40am Thursday.
The pair had been evacuated from a tent in the night, McGonagle said.
'I don't know about the father that I talked to, whether he's with us - I hope he is - and his daughter,' he said.
They'd all looked at what McGonagle described as a wall of mud in the campground.
'You could see it was almost moving because the water was coming through it, and [the father] said, 'Oh, that pile of dirt there that came over about half an hour ago and that tree that's there, that came down 10 minutes ago'.
'So I was talking with them and saying 'There's a lot of water coming out here, this isn't good'.
'I'm no engineer and I certainly don't understand the geographical, geology of the mountain, but things were moving.'
A motorised cart that he thought was from the camp passed but didn't stop.
'I don't know whether they realised the enormity of what was about to happen an hour and a half later,' McGonagle said.
He left the father and daughter standing near the wall of mud with an older couple and was at home, uploading photos he'd taken on his walk, when he heard about the slip.
He headed back down to the Mount, which he walks around every morning, and saw some of the damage.
A heart-rending sight that would stick with him was a distraught father being escorted out by police, which he said brought home the enormity of what had happened.
Six people have been confirmed unaccounted for in the major slip at the Mt Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park.
At a media conference on Friday afternoon, Superintendent Tim Anderson, Bay of Plenty Area Commander, said they had a further list of three that they were working through but they were unlikely to be within the environs of the scene.
“The youngest ages are 15,” he said, confirming there were two teenagers missing.
Police also confirmed that one of the two people found dead in the Pāpāmoa slip was a Chinese national.
“New Zealand is full of grief today,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said at the media conference, after sitting with family members of those waiting to be accounted for.
'They are grieving incredibly hard.'
Luxon thanked all involved in rescue efforts across the country, saying he had visited people affected by slips and that it was inspiring to see neighbours helping each other.
Fire and Emergency Assistant National Commander David Guard said they were continuing to treat it as a rescue operation.
“We’re working in complete conjunction with police and I want to thank all the contractors that have been brought in to assist us … we’re working 24/7.”
Asked how confident he was that more people would be found alive, Anderson said 'if you look overseas, there's been a matter of days where people have been rescued.'
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers visited the scene this morning, telling the NZ Herald it could take days to reach those trapped beneath the landslide.
He said his heart went out to family members of the missing but that staff were working as quickly as they could. “We appreciate that everybody is anxious … but we also have to be very careful.”
Following a night of searching, Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell described the scene as “a difficult and challenging environment” with crushed buildings, caravans and campervans.
Local Craig Langlands said the campground had been a bit quieter just this week, as people started to head back to work.
'It's normally pumping. People everywhere,' he said. 'Normally, I can't scooter down here because there's so many people on the boardwalk. I'm very sorry for what's happened and hopefully they find the bodies of all the ones that are still missing.“
Thames/Coromandel mayor Peter Revell, who met Luxon on Friday, said up to 40 homes in his region could be damaged in some way, but assessments were ongoing.
He believed everyone in threatened or low-lying areas was now safe.
'At this stage we are feeling very relieved we didn't have any loss of life. There could easily have been. When you look at what's happening in Northland, and down in the Bay of Plenty, you realise just how the fine line between being safe and suddenly finding you've got a human disaster.'
His district had been better prepared thanks to lessons heeded from Cyclone Gabrielle, he said.
Diggers were in action behind a cordon at the holiday park on Friday. Several emergency vehicles remained at the campsite, with fire and police personnel going back and forth.
Weather conditions have improved and the sun is out, but there’s a strong breeze, a reporter at the scene said.
Witnesses described “frightening and upsetting scenes” as the slip ploughed through the campground, burying sites and flipping a campervan into the hot pools complex.
Aucklander Bruce Moore said he heard “a hell of a noise” as trees were uprooted and the hillside gave way. “I saw the land just come down with a mighty crash.” The next sounds were screams.
Fire and Emergency commander William Pike said crews were working to “de-layer” the rubble, with specialist Urban Search and Rescue teams and heavy machinery on site. Fire and Emergency deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said USAR teams were “carefully removing layers of debris” in a “complex and high-risk environment”.
‘Hero’ builders praised
Earlier retired GP Alanna Ratna described how she could hear children screaming in the aftermath of the hillside slip at the Beachside Holiday Park at Mt Maunganui. She saw one young person emerge from the area around the slip, but no others.
Ratna believed some of those trapped may have been European. She spoke to one woman whose two teenage sons were missing.
Ratna praised two 'hero' builders who immediately joined the rescue effort. 'They just jumped out of their car with their drills and went straight in … jumped straight on the roof of that toilet block and started using their drills.'
They worked to remove debris for about 15 minutes until police arrived.
Inside the rescue operation
Four to six police officers are guarding both slip scenes in Tauranga - one in Welcome Bay Rd, and the other at the Mount campground - with investigators combing the scene. There were easily up to 100 police staff working around the scenes, including family liaison. St John was also on the scene.
Elsewhere, the search continues today for a motorist swept away by a swollen river near Warkworth on Wednesday. Police are using a drone to help search the Mahurangi River area. Media reports say he had recently moved to New Zealand from Kiribati with his family.
States of emergency remain in place in Whangārei, Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki, Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti.
Queen extends aroha
Maaori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has extended her aroha to the families who have lost loved ones in the floods and landslips across the North Island this week.
The message was delivered during Te Iwi Morehu commemorations at Rātana Pā, today.
“Te Arikinui is deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread damage from the climate-related disaster and extends her deepest aroha to the relatives of the victims,” Kiingitanga spokesman Rahui Papa said.
Te Arikinui also acknowledged the courage and care of first responders, emergency services and marae who provided support during the natural disaster.
Update website
Police updated its website today with a banner dedicated to the Mt Maunganui slip.
They ask those who are concerned about a person to make a report - and if safe, to also let them know through the site
Weather watches
A complex and slow‑moving low east of New Zealand is driving heavy rain, showers and strong winds across several regions, prompting multiple severe weather watches.
Forecasters say the system is expected to affect both islands over the weekend, with the far south facing prolonged rainfall and parts of the North Island bracing for potentially severe winds. Authorities are urging people to stay up to date with the latest forecasts as conditions evolve.
A heavy rain watch is in place for Dunedin, Clutha, Central Otago south of Alexandra, and mainland Southland.It runs for 30 hours from 9am on Saturday to 3pm on Sunday.
Several regions are also under strong wind watches, with winds in exposed areas expected to approach severe gale.
Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato north of Hamilton, and Bay of Plenty north of Tauranga 12pm to 5pm on Saturday: Westerly winds may reach severe gale in exposed places. There is a moderate chance of an upgrade.
Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay 12pm to 6pm on Saturday: Northwest winds may approach severe gale in exposed areas. A moderate chance of upgrading remains.
Coastal Otago and Southland from Waikouati to Bluff, and Stewart Island 9pm Saturday to 6am Sunday: Southwest winds may reach severe gale along exposed coastal stretches. A moderate chance of an upgrade applies here as well.