The deaths were reported at Welcome Bay, while rescue workers are still searching through rubble at a different site in a popular campground on Mount Maunganui.  There are no "signs of life", authorities said, adding that they have a "rough idea" of how many people are missing but are waiting for an exact figure. They provided no other details except that the group includes "at least one young girl". The landslides were triggered by heavy rains over the last few days, which led to flooding and power outages across the North Island. One minister said the east coast resembled "a war zone". New Zealand is "heavy with grief" after the "profound tragedy" caused by recent weather, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on X. Footage from the campsite on Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano, shows a huge slip near the base of the volcanic dome, as rescuers and sniffer dogs comb through crushed caravans and flattened tents. Authorities said that the search would continue through the night. "This is a complex and high-risk environment, and our teams are working to achieve the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe," said Megan Stiffler, the deputy national commander for the Urban Search and Rescue team,

The extinct volcano is a sacred Māori site and one of the most popular campgrounds in New Zealand, with a local holiday website describing it as a "slice of paradise". But it has been repeatedly hit by landslides in recent years. "I heard this huge tree crack and all this dirt come off, and then I looked behind me and there's this huge landslide coming down," Australian tourist Sonny Worrall told local broadcaster TVNZ. "I'm still shaking from it now... I turned around and had to jump out of my seat and just run,"he added. He saw it happen while swimming in a hot pool. Hiker Mark Tangney told the New Zealand Herald he heard people screaming from under the rubble. "So I just parked up and ran to help... We could hear people screaming: 'Help us, help us, get us out of here'," he said. Those calls persisted for about half an hour and then went silent, Tangney said. (BBC)