Several people are unaccounted for following a slip near a campsite in Mount Maunganui. Photo: Shirley Thomas
Several people are missing after a landslide came down on several structures at campground at the base of Mauao, Mount Maunganui.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell has confirmed a young girl was among the missing, and RNZ understands other children may be unaccounted for.
There are sniffer dogs at the scene as emergency services try to find anyone trapped in the slip at the Beachside Holiday Park,
The slip came down around 9.30am, hitting campervans, cars, tents and a toilet and shower blocked.
A Tauranga resident living near the campground said she watched emergency staff digging through the mud.
Robyn, who lives in an apartment nearby, said nobody had been found yet.
General view of the event at Mount Hot Pools, Mt Maunganui. 22 January 2026 Photograph by Alan Gibson Photo: RNZ / Alan Gibson
People were digging through the dirt for about an hour before stopping, she said.
She said she saw ambulances leaving the scene without anybody inside, but police were still at the scene.
Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale said it was an evolving situation.
"We're having to work through all the lists of those who are checked in... we don't know the exact number.
"The ablution block is the biggest area of concern, but there is a campervan and tents that were around that area as well."
A witness, Nix Jaques, was about to walk up the mountain when she heard an incredibly loud noise.
"I turned around and I could see the land coming down onto some structures," she said
"There were some vehicles that were moved. It came down on an ablutions block - I believe there were some people in the showers - and it shifted a campervan, there was a family with a campervan."
She spoke to a couple missing a child and tried to help in the early stages but said emergency services arrived quite quickly afterwards.
St John declared a major incident and there police, firefighters and ambulance workers at the scene.
Fire and Emergency's shift manager Paul Radden said 40 firefighters, including urban search and rescue team, were responding.
The slip was in the south-eastern corner of the holiday park.
The Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club was being used as a triage centre and evacuation point.
The rest of the campsite has been evacuated.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford confirmed there were people unaccounted for.
He asked members of the public to keep those impacted in their thoughts - and not to come to the area to allow clear access for rescuers.
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