New Zealand landslips kill at least two, others missing

TAURANGA

In this image from a video, a police officer with dog searches people near the site of a landslide at the base of Mount Maunganui on New Zealand’s North Island Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (TVNZ via AP)

Landslides ploughed into a home and a campsite in rain-swept northern New Zealand Thursday, killing at least two people and leaving others missing under tons of mud.

Rescuers used heavy machinery to dig through the mass of earth that moved after heavy overnight rain in New Zealand's North Island.

Emergency workers retrieved two bodies from the remains of a buried home in the harborside city of Tauranga, police said.

"Police are working to support their loved ones at this incredibly difficult time," a spokesperson said.

Multiple people were missing after a chunk of earth from Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano, slid into a popular campsite nearby.

The region is a big tourist draw in summer, with hikers heading up the mountain and thousands lured by white sand beaches.

The mud smashed into a shower block, threw around camper vans, and spread into an adjoining heated pool complex.

Voices were briefly heard calling for help from beneath the rubble, witnesses and emergency officials said.

"Whilst the land's still moving there, they're in a rescue mission," Assistant Police Commissioner Tim Anderson told reporters at the scene.

"I can't be drawn on numbers. What I can say is that it is single figures," Anderson said.

A young girl is among the missing, officials said.