Search for bodies resumes after landslide at NZ campsite

26 Jan 2026 • 6:40 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • Authorities in New Zealand are continuing their search for six people presumed dead after a devastating landslide at a popular beach campsite.
  • The massive slip occurred at Beachside Holiday Park, Mount Maunganui, following heavy rain from a summer storm in the North Island last Thursday.
  • Among the missing, aged between 15 and 71, are a Swedish tourist and a teenager originally from Italy, with recovery efforts facing dangerous, unstable ground conditions.
  • The same storm also claimed three other lives in separate incidents, including two in a landslide in Pāpāmoa and one swept away by floodwaters near Auckland.
  • Questions have arisen regarding the timing of evacuation orders, prompting an independent inquiry.

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