Speaking to the ABC, emergency management minister Mark Mitchell declined to elaborate on whether there were foreign nationals involved in the Mount Maunganui landslide.

"I'm not going to go into details on that because it is so sensitive," he said, adding that some people had left the campsite without others knowing, so they were checking security camera footage to track people down.

Mitchell also said there was still no exact number for the missing people in the Mount Maunganui landslide.

Rescuers are "working as hard as they can to try and recover people from the slide", he said. "But it's a difficult and challenging site, because we could face further slides there."

Emergency management minister Mark Mitchell says two bodies have been recovered from a separate landslide at Welcome Bay in Papamoa, according to the ABC.

We reported earlier that the Papamoa landslide had left two people missing and one seriously injured.

The NZ Herald has spoken to two people who were in the hot pools near the campsite in Mount Maunganui when the landslide hit.

Bruce Cortesi reportedly saw the landslide first and had pointed out "how the trees are moving" to his friend Olly Collier. Cortesi had immediately raised the alarm, calling for people to run.,

Cortesi told the Herald that everyone began running, and they looked back and saw a "big caravan" had come crashing down into the large swimming pool.

They said some people escaping the pools had "dirt on their faces".

He said while the landslide looked like it was moving slowly, it came down in "seconds".

Image source, Getty Images

Several towns and cities in the Bay of Plenty area have officially have seen their wettest day on record.

The national meteorological service MetService has said that the city of Tauranga experienced its wettest day on Thursday since records began in 1910. About three months worth of rain - 274mm - fell within 24 hours, head of weather news Heather Keats said.

The town of Whitianga also had its wettest day, with 247mm of rain.

Hundreds of people have been cut off after a landslide blocked a key road at Helena Bay.

The New Zealand Herald reported that residents of Ōakura, Teal Bay, Bland Bay, Mōkau, Ngaiotonga and Whangaruru are now effectively cut off, after the slip brought down pine trees, dirt and a boulder estimated to be 100 tonnes on to the road.

Extreme weather has become more common across New Zealand.

On the North Island, heavy rainfall - triggering floods and landslides - has ramped up in frequency over the last five years. Here's a brief look at the major floods that have struck previously:

• Taranaki, July 2025 - Flooding and landslides were recorded, as part of broader floods that devastated parts of the South Island
• Wellington, May 2025 - Thousands of homes in Wellington lost power; flights to and from Wellington Airport were cancelled
• Gisborne District and Hawke's Bay, June 2024 - Flooding caused power outages and damaged hundreds of homes
• Multiple parts of the North Island were struck by Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, triggering a rare declaration of a national state of emergency. More than 10 people died and nearly 30,000 homes were left without power.
• Auckland, September 2021 - Extensive flooding and landslides in western Auckland killed one person

Emergency management and recovery minister Mark Mitchell has said officials have a "rough idea" of how many people are missing in the Mount Maunganui landslide, although they will wait for an exact number before they made any announcements to that effect.

"Our concern is for family members who have lost loved ones in this landslide," he told Radio New Zealand, adding that he had been with families waiting for news.

He added that dogs had been on site at the landslide trying to detect, locate and identify where people were.

There are more photos emerging showing the aftermath of the landslide at the Mount Maunganui campsite:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

PM Christopher Luxon will skip Rātana celebrations tomorrow, instead travelling to spots that have been hit hard by floods and landslides, local media report.

Every year the Rātana celebrations draws thousands of Māori and some politicians to Rātana Pā, a small settlement near Whanganui.

The gathering honours the birthday of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the founder of the Rātana church - a Māori religious movement.

The event is also seen as the unofficial start of New Zealand's political year.

Vandhna Bhan
BBC News

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Mount Maunganui is my home town, and growing up there I can't ever remember this time of year subjected to heavy rains and tropical cyclones, until recently.

December to February has always been the sunnier months, where tourists around the world would flock to the beach. We’re now seeing the devastating tropical weather patterns we’re used to seeing in the Pacific, in New Zealand.

New Zealand doesn't have a huge budget on a global scale for such disasters, so this also really is a big blow for local councils who were already struggling with the billion-dollar price tag of Cyclone Gabrielle from 2023.

Key roads in Coromandel that connect towns to main highways are now closed or heavily affected by severe flooding and landslides, cutting off many communities.

Much of the North Island is still in a fragile state of rebuilding, and I can only imagine these new floods are causing damage that is both physical and psychological for communities there.

Megan Stiffler, the deputy national commander for the Urban Search and Rescue team, says that rescuers will be working overnight to search for missing people in the landslides at Mount Maunganui campsite and the Welcome Bay area of Papamoa.

Rescuers are "carefully removing" debris and heavy machinery is on site, Stiffler said in a statement.

"This is a complex and high-risk environment, and our teams are working to achieve the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe. The teams will be operating overnight until the search is complete," she said.

"Our highest priority is in the Bay of Plenty operations. I’d like to acknowledge the families impacted by what’s happened. All our thoughts are with them tonight."

Yvette Tan
Live editor

Image source, Getty Images

It's just past 18:00 in New Zealand (05:00 GMT), and rescuers are still searching for missing people after landslides hit parts of the North Island.

If you're just joining us, here's what to know:

• Several people are missing - including at least one young girl - after a landslide at a campsite in Mount Maunganui
• Mount Maunganui, a volcanic dome and tourist hotspot, is one of the most popular camp sites in the country
• "There was a tree coming down and a caravan smashing towards me," a camper told the ABC
• Another recalled jumping out of the pool when he saw the landslide coming down
• Days of heavy rains and floods have left thousands without power in New Zealand's North Island
• Two people are missing and one person is seriously injured after another landslide in Papamoa

• Floods have ravaged other parts of the island's East Coast, which emergency minister Mark Mitchell described as "like a warzone"

• A man remains missing after he was swept into a river north of Auckland on Wednesday. A short while ago authorities called off the search for him

Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

Rescue workers have said that there are no signs of life after a landslide crashed into a campsite near Mount Maunganui.

However, rescue personnel along with their dogs are still combing through the debris in an effort to try and find any survivors.

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand's government is doing "everything we can to support those impacted", its Prime Minister Chris Luxon has said in a post on X.

"We are standing with these local communities in the response – and we will stand with them in the recovery too," he said, adding that he has spoken to several mayors about the "dangerous weather in their regions".

Authorities in the harbourside city of Tauranga are warning residents of contamination in stormwater.

"Always assume that floodwater is contaminated with farm run-off, animal and human sewage and chemicals," the Tauranga City Council wrote on Facebook a few hours ago.

The city council said heavy rain can wash into waterways contaminants which can take days to flush through. It's urging people to avoid entering water for 2-3 days, "even at sites that usually have good water quality".

We can now bring you photos of the devastation left by the landslide which ploughed into a campsite in Mount Maunganui:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club, which had been used as an evacuation spot and control point, has now been evacuated as well due to fears of further landslides.

Police had set up camp at the surf club to figure out the people who are missing.

In an earlier post on Facebook, the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service urged people not to go to the surf club unless specifically requested by members of the service.

"As a local and a lifeguard, this is a devastating situation to be in, and our natural inclination is to come and help out," the post said.

"But I reiterate that emergency services need space to work at this time."

The heavy rains and floods have caused large scale power outages in the country's North Island.

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported that there were still around 8,000 people without power on Thursday morning, down from 16,000 people who had reported a loss of electricity the previous night.

According to RNZ, the majority of outages are in the eastern Waikato, and significant pockets in Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, and Tairāwhiti.

Restoration efforts are continuing, it added.

Image source, Gisborne District Council

Minister of Emergency Management Mark Mitchell has called the damage on the East Coast "like a warzone".

"It's been a very big event for us as a country, really hitting almost our entire eastern seaboard of the North Island.

"The good news is that everyone responded really quickly, and there was time to get prepared. That helps to mitigate and create a very strong response," Mitchell told news site Radio New Zealand.

Image source, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence

Heavy rain has deluged the region for days. Although some local authorities say the rain has eased, residents are still battling the aftermath of flooding, debris and landslides.

Image source, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence

The wife of the man who was swept away in his car in the Mahurangi River on Wednesday tells RNZ she is holding out hope that her husband will alive.

"I know his personality is strong, wise," she said, adding that he was a fisherman back home in Kiribati and knew how to swim and dive.

The man, 47, was on the way to work with their nephew when both fell into the river. He had pushed the nephew towards a branch so the nephew could hoist himself onto land; but the older man did not manage get back up himself, RNZ reported.

She was still asleep when the police and the nephew came to her home to break the news.

"I don't know how I feel… It's horrible… I think I lose my breathing [sic]," she told RNZ.

"I just have time to grab my nephew, and hug him strongly and I thank God for keeping him alive."

The couple moved to New Zealand in 2023 with their four children.