Nix Jaques and Michael Morrah: witnesses to Mount Maunganui landslide recount the damage they saw

A witness has described a loud cracking sound as a massive landslide slumped across Mount Maunganui’s Beachside Holiday Park this morning, taking out tents, caravans, and a toilet block - and hitting the hot pool. 

Searches have continued all day - and fewer than 10 people remain unaccounted for, including young people.

Evacuees from the park gathered at the local surf club have now been moved, out of concerns the land could move again.

Officials say they won't stop looking until everyone is found, after pausing briefly this morning due to unstable ground.

Witness Nix Jaques was there.

She says a frantic man and woman told her two loved ones were stuck in the shower block.

"They were trying to move into that space, so it was trying to fade and then come away."

NZ Herald reporter Michael Morrah was also on the scene and he says search and rescue teams are still working to recover the missing people.

"It is a huge task, as there is just tonnes and tonnes of dirt and debris that is covering the campsite at the moment."

Two people also remain unaccounted for since a slip overnight near houses in Tauranga's Welcome Bay.

Police are encouraging people worried about someone they can't get in touch with in the Bay of Plenty to contact them immediately on 105. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go to Nixt Jake's. She is a witness who
was there at the mount when the slip happened this
morning and joins us now. Next, good afternoon, Ryan, so good,
thank you. What did you see this morning? Next?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
This morning, I was out walking and was heading back
down Pilot Bay and then I heard actually loud cracking sound,
which caused was on the phone at TIGN, but it
caused me to turn around and I could see that
the mona was starting to come down onto I think

(00:39):
guests war cracking sounds onto buildings and things around it.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
What was it like when when it was coming down like?
Was it really fast? Was it just a slow slid?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
What?

Speaker 1 (00:50):
What was it like?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
I again context from what I could see, it felt
quite slow motion. But you know, does get different when
you're in different situations. So it seems slow to me
as I watched it come true. I mean, you react
as fast as you can too. I don't know how.

(01:14):
Natural instinct, I guess is to move forward, like lots
of people were the community started to move forward to
obviously try and ascertain what was going on And.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
What did you find when you went from when you moved.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Forward, it was more just the visual of saying that
there's been lots of disrupt to the area directly under
the where the fenee had fallen. So you could see that.
I could see that a camp event had been moved along,
and that the abolution block had also been pushed forward

(01:47):
in another sort of truck. I guess was perhaps keeping
kind of the ablution, uh, you know, lockdown. I guess
it was lockdown. I couldn't see behind that. I didn't
want to move into an unsafe zone. And there were
lots of people who had been doing the work around
closing off the monent and the hovers. Yes, so they
were starting to mobilize and you know, pushing people away

(02:10):
from going and giving there where the excess they was.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
And did you talk to anyone when you were there
next to anyone who was you know, had been there
or in the vicinity who was looking for anyone?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, there were two people who were obviously oneing how
to eat to New Zealand who had people in the
shower blocks. So they were trying to move into that space.
So it was trying to say to then come away,
you know, look obviously past them for clarity how many
people they were looking for? So that we could partial

(02:47):
it on to other people. So we had some idea
of what it was that was sort of unfolding us.
That you were a man and a woman, and that I,
you know, could I read that they were frantic to
get the people that they loved out of the space,
so you can only try and keep them safe. As

(03:08):
the white people come to try and look into the area,
did they.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Have their family and their their kids in there?

Speaker 2 (03:17):
But probably potentially they said there were two people. It's
all quite snatched. As you can imagine, everything's moving quite rapidly,
so you know, when I asked how many people are
in there, they said too, and then other people. There
were doctors and nurses and all sorts of people sort

(03:39):
of rushing around with another man who normally does search
and rescue who was interacting at the time. So it
was a little bit of a I guess busy scene
probably a good word.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
To put it. Nix, I really appreciate you talking to
me this afternoon. Thank you for that. Next, Jake's who
was a witness at the Mount Monginuis slip this morning,
thirteen minutes after four, we'll hit to Michael Mora, who
is from the held. Is that the scene with us, Michael,
what's happening there now?

Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeaes Sir Ryan. This is very much still a very
active and fluid emergency situation where the focus at the
moment is still rescuing those who are unaccounted for, those
who are trapped under this massive landslide. The center of attention,
from what I can see from the beach at the moment,
appears to be on this ablution block and you can

(04:30):
see far an emergency and land search and rescue teams
up on top of the debris that covers that toilet
and shower block. There's also a digger that has been
brought in, but it is a huge task is there
is just tons and tons of dirt and debris that
is covering the campsite at the moment. Emergency Management Minister
Mark Mitchell has told me that young people were among

(04:54):
those who are unaccounted for at the moment and describe
the situation for parents who are waiting at the nearby
surf club for news as heartbreaking. So this is a
fairly fluid situation that is ongoing. What we understand is
that around five am this morning, there was another woman

(05:15):
who started going around the camp site and warning people
to get out. Now, I've just interviewed a woman who
asked not to be named, and she told me that
this woman was a hero, but that also as this
woman was going around the campsite to try and get
people out, she went into the ablution block and was

(05:36):
then the landslide came down, and she is one of
those who was unaccounted for. So this is a woman
who was going around trying to warn people of the
imminent danger. So it's a fairly bleak, sad situation here
on the ground. A lot of activity going on, and
we are told by emergency officials that this will continue

(05:57):
into the evening. The rescue operation, which it is at
the moment, we'll continue into the evening.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Michael, thanks for that update. Michael Mora from The Herald
at the scene for us.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
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Speaker 3 (06:11):
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