An Anglican priest who was at the scene of the devastating landslide in Mount Maunganui early Saturday says emergency officials have dug their way to the debris-covered campground ablution block.
Reverend Vianney Douglas from the Maori Mission Anglican Church in Tauranga told the Herald she was at the site at 7am to perform a karakia and offer support to rescue teams.
“My understanding is that they’ve made their way to the ablution block and are likely to be working in that area. If they are close to the ablution block, I think they’re expecting to discover or find something today,” she told the Herald.
She praised rescuers who had been working through the night.
“I think they know they’ve got a big task ahead of them today,” she said.
Douglas said the mood at the scene was “very sombre” but there were a lot of people at the scene providing support to families and workers alike.
“It’s really important for supporters including iwi, hapū, and ministers of all faiths to be available to support those people who are doing the work, and of course, the families who sit and wait,” she said.
The shower, toilet and kitchen block has been a key area of focus for rescuers as campers were inside the facilities when the landslide came crashing down around 9.30am Thursday.
However, conditions for rescue teams remain difficult with rain and wind forecast in Mount Maunganui Saturday.
Police say six people are believed to be buried in the rubble, and they are trying to contact a further three people who didn’t check out.
The Herald revealed Thursday that a local woman was waking people up around 5am and urging them to leave the campground.
She was referred to as a hero by another camper who escaped unscathed but was then believed to have been caught in the landslide when she entered the ablution block.
There was evidence of small slips at the site hours before the hillside collapsed.
The ensuing rescue efforts were frantic and included local man Dre Kumeroa who started ripping open tents in the hope of pulling people to safety.
Cooper Blomfield was camping at the site and took photos at 7.51am above the ablution building which he said showed a “mini slip”.
He said it was pure luck he wasn’t at the site when the hillside gave way.
“We left our campsite to dry our clothes and bedding at the laundromat, which got soaked from the night before and the wind damaged our tent,” he told the Herald.
He said it was only when he drove back to the camp that he saw a “massive” pohutukawa slide down the hill.
“We jumped out and tried to help,” he said.
Colin McGonagle was walking just above the base of the mountain around 7.45am. When he noticed damage just above the campsite, he started taking photos.
“There was a little mini waterfall through there, lots of other streams, lots of other water coming through the embankment,” he told the Herald.
He said there was no official evacuation order given to any of the campers despite obvious signs of a waterlogged hillside.
“Specialist geologists or whoever else in the emergency crew – people that should have known – maybe should have been there a little bit earlier and got them out of harm’s way,” he said.
Camper Karyn Henger who fled the scene with her 16-year-old son before the landslide told the Herald she was in disbelief holidaymakers were not told to leave given the weather.
“I do feel angry about it, because there are people that are not going to come out alive, and we could have been among them as well,” she said.
“Where were the campground staff? Where were the council? Where was anybody to warn us that we needed to get out of there?” she said.
Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale told the Herald a review into the incident at the council-owned campground was under way and he was “committed” to getting answers.
Asked if mistakes were made given no one was formally told to leave, he said it was too early to say.
“I wouldn’t go down that track. I don’t have all the facts in front of me to be able to make a judgment call on that,” he said.
He said he understood some felt anger and frustration.
“I sympathise that there are plenty of questions and I sympathise that those questions are legitimate,” he said.
Drysdale said he didn’t know what if any geological survey had been conducted at Mount Maunganui prior to the landslide.
He confirmed there were reports of slips at the site at 5am and said officials closed the maunga to walkers with cordons in place at 8.56am.
“That was because of other slips and for the safety of our community. There was action taking place,” he said.
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