Mark Mitchell: Emergency Management Minister on the ongoing rescue efforts in Mount Maunganui

Authorities haven't tied down exact numbers of people missing, after the land gave way at Mount Maunganui's Beachside Holiday Park. 

The landslide took out tents, cars, caravans, a toilet block, and the hot pools about 9.30am this morning. 

The total unaccounted for is in single digits - including young people - with searchers including dog teams carefully probing the site.

The nearby Surf Club being used as an emergency hub has now been evacuated as a precaution.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell says geo-scientists are worried the Mount could slip again. 

He says police are still working out who was at the park today. 

"It's a matter of now going back, checking CCTV, camera footage and just working that out and just trying to get a very clear picture of who might have been impacted." 

Meanwhile, two people are still missing after a slip on Tauranga's Welcome Bay Road.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The only drive show you can trust to ask the questions,
We get the answers, find the facts and give the analysis.
Ryan Bridge on hither duplicy Ellen Drive with One New
Zealand and the power of satellite Mobile News orgsaid B.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Seven after five will go to this landslide.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
The surf Club has just been evacuated near the mount
This is where some of the relatives of those who
are currently missing under the debris from the landslide that
happened this morning. They were gathering at the surf club
just being evacuated. The search and rescue operations still going
on now. Mark Mitchell is the Emergency Management Minister, joins
us live Mark, good evening, Hi, Ryan, what's.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Happening with the surf club?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Is there a worry that there are potent there's the
potential for more slips here.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Yeah, the geoscientists a worried that that's there right that
that part of the Mountain Bay slip and they're concerned
about the surf club. So it's a precautionary evacuation of
the surf Club at the moment. And yes, there with
all the families and we have moved them to different locations.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
How many families are we talking about.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
I don't want to get into numbers because you know,
we're still sorting through this it and so I just
don't want to. You you can imagine the high degree
of sensitivity. You know, what the families are going through
at the moment, is their loved ones, a lot of
uncertainty and we're still working police are still working through
a process in terms of who was on the camp,

(01:29):
who's still missing. So I just don't want to get
into numbers.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
No, fair enough.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
So at this stage they're still not clear on how
many people might have left the camp and not told
people or not checked out. So there's that uncertainty there.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, exactly, and that did happen and there was a
few that which is completely totally understandable. But it's a
matter of now going back checking CCTV camera footage and
just working that out and just trying to get a
very clear picture of who might be who might have
been impacted in court by that.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
S How are the family's doing. Oh, it's terrible, mate.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
I mean you could imagine when you love ones you
don't know where they are there and they're just the
stress and the anxiety of waiting around and they get
an enormous amount of support. Everyone's trying to cheer that
burden with them. But yeah, as you can imagine, it's
very very tough. It's somber.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
You know.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
Our first responders are just quite simply doing an outstanding job.
As you can imagine, it's a really difficult environment to
operate in and but they're really getting on with the work.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
And they're doing a very good job. How much land
came down, it must have been a hell of a lot.

Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yeah, it's significant, so you'd be quite shocked when you
see it. There's a lot of earth that has moved
and you can just see the enormity and the size
of the job facing. Our friends and our use are
operators who are outstanding. They've got the right equipment there.
We've had the dogs over the site and there's a
massive amount of resource of work going into starting to

(02:59):
try and clear and rescue the people that are under there.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
What are the dogs therefore they'll.

Speaker 4 (03:06):
Detect that trained you know obviously through scent, their scent
to be able to detect people and have they I
don't know. I haven't had the results back on that.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
I just know they put the dogs over Mark what about.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
We heard from our reporter who's there actually about a
woman who was going around and warning people, trying to
get people out of the camp, you know, wake up,
leave because this is an unsafe place. Have you heard
of stories like that, you know, people doing heroic things,
amazing things.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
No, I haven't heard. No, I haven't.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
That information hasn't come to me. But certainly over the
last few days, in the last twenty four hours, there's
definitely been some heroic people, members of the public, our
first responders, police and firefighters. It's been a tough you know,
forty eight hours, there's no doubt about that, and especially
up north we we had you know, isolated communities that.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Were earlier in the week as well.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
Does the recovery operation, the rescue operation, does that just
keep going until they find people?

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Now?

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Like, is it going through the night twenty four to seven? Yeah,
it does.

Speaker 4 (04:08):
Because we haven't only got the site at the Mount,
we've also got a site at Welcome Bay two where
one of the slips has come through, taking the house out.
Two of the people are being recovered, they're okay, but
we've still got two people missing.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
Mark Mitchell, who's the Emergency Management minist to appreciate your
time Tonight

Speaker 1 (04:24):
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