Landslides in New Zealand kill 2, search for missing continues
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Record-breaking torrential rain across the north island of New Zealand was being blamed for at least two deadly landlides that claimed the lives of two people on Thursday in one of the country's most popular holiday regions. (Photo Credit: New Zealand Police/EPA-EFE)
Jan. 22 (UPI) -- At least two people were killed and several remain missing after landslides triggered by heavy rainfall hit New Zealand's North Island on Thursday during the peak summer holiday season.
The fatalities were in Welcome Bay, a popular tourist destination 110 miles southeast of Auckland, with rescue teams searching a second affected site, a campground, in nearby Mount Maunganui, warning "no signs of life" had been detected.
Authorities declined to provide numbers for those unaccounted for, apart from that they included "at least one young girl."
"This is a complex and high-risk environment, and our teams are working to achieve the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe," Urban Search and Rescue deputy commander Megan Stiffler said as darkness fell at the site at the foot of Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano.
Australian Sonny Worrall described how he just escaped with his life after a hillside broke away and careered toward a swimming pool he was using at Mount Maunganu.
"As I'm swimming, I heard this huge landslide behind me, trees cracking, there was a caravan that almost hit me. I had to dive in the next pool. It was the scariest thing I've ever felt in my life," he said.
In Papamoa, eight miles southeast of Mount Maunganui, one person was seriously injured and two were missing after a landslide hit their home at 4 a.m.
Police on the Northland Peninsula were continuing to search for a man in his 40s swept away by floodwaters on Wednesday.
Areas of the North Island have been deluged in recent days, causing widespread flooding and leaving thousands without power, with as much as three months of rain falling on Thursday in the Bay of Plenty region, where the affected sites are located, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency.
The emergency declaration also extended to Northland, Coromandel, Tairawhiti and Hauraki on Auckland's North Shore.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the country was in shock over the loss of life.
"These losses are deeply shattering and New Zealand is heavy with grief," he said in a social media post in which he blamed the incidents on recent extreme weather and pledged government help both in the immediate aftermath and during the recovery ahead.
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