Multiple children missing as landslide destroys popular New Zealand campsite (Photos)

A powerful landslide triggered by record rainfall has struck a popular campground in Mount Maunganui on New Zealand’s North Island, leaving several people, including children, missing and prompting an urgent rescue operation

The disaster unfolded early on Thursday morning at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, where heavy rain saturated the ground and caused a hillside to collapse onto tents, campervans, and a shower-toilet block at about 9:30 a.m. local time.

Emergency services, including Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), police, and specialist search teams, are currently working to locate anyone still trapped.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed that a young girl is among those unaccounted for, and that other children may also be missing, describing the situation as “heartbreaking” for families awaiting news.

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’. 

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.