Six missing after landslide hits New Zealand campsite

Two teenagers are still missing after a landslide struck a busy campground on New Zealand’s North Island, prompting rescue teams to continue searching through the debris, according to authorities.

At around 9:30 am on Thursday (22:30 GMT on Wednesday), a heavy rainstorm struck Mount Maunganui on the island’s east coast, causing the landslide, which caused soil and rubble to fall onto a campsite full of families in Tauranga.

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Officials warned on Friday that the site’s search for missing people could take several days due to the site’s unstable conditions.

Despite the urgency of the operation, police commissioner Richard Chambers told the New Zealand Herald that safety concerns required teams to move slowly.

“We appreciate that everyone is anxious and awaiting some answers, but we also have to be very cautious,” said Chambers.

A drone view of diggers working at a campsite damaged by a landslide caused by heavy rains, in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, January 23, 2026. TVNZ via REUTERS TV/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NEW ZEALAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN NEW ZEALAND. AUSTRALIA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN AUSTRALIA. No use New Zealand internet sites/any internet site of any New Zealand or Australia based media organisations or mobile platforms. — A drone capture of diggers in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, on January 23, 2026, shows a landslide-damaged campsite.

Crews meticulously removed the debris and checked it piece by piece, according to emergency services, who had deployed significant resources there.

According to David Guard, a fire and emergency official, “We have 25 people working with contractors, their diggers, and police dogs, as well as police operations to make sure every inch of soil is worked through.”

As police continued to look into the possible locations of others with connections to the site, a 15-year-old was among the people still unaccounted for, according to authorities.

Officers were attempting to contact three more people, according to police commander Tim Anderson, despite initial reports that they were not camping at the time the landslide struck.

Since first responders first heard voices coming from beneath the debris on Thursday, he continued, adding that no further signs of life had been found.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, right, flies on a helicopter on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, to view the damage from a landslide at Mount Maunganui. (Corey Fleming/Pool Photo via AP) — On January 23, 2026, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, at right, flies by helicopter to view the damage from a landslide at Mount Maunganui. [Photo via AP]

On Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met with the victims’ families and traveled to the site. He said, “They are grieving incredibly hard, and I know that New Zealand grieves with them.”

Once the extent of the damage was determined, Luxon claimed, government funding would be provided.

In another area, two people were killed when a landslide occurred in Papamoa, a nearby suburb of the city. Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong claimed in a post on X on Friday that one of the dead was a Chinese national.

Some of the hardest-hit areas saw the most severe road closures, resulting in landfall for several towns.

Officials from the Tairawhiti district’s civil defense warned people bringing emergency supplies of food and water across landslides because this could cause rock and soil to move even further.