A Mount Maunganui resident has described rushing from a cafe to the scene of the campground landslide moments after it hit saying he started “ripping open tents” in the hope of pulling survivors to safety. 

Dre Kumeroa, who is from Mount Maunganui but is living in Australia, told the Herald he and his wife were at a cafe across the road as the land started moving above the campground. 

Dre Kumeroa ran to the scene of the campground at Mount Maunganui when the landslide hit and started ripping open tents in the hope of getting people out. Photo / Jason Dorday. 

“We went over straight away to try and help out where we could. We were ripping tents open. There was a lady screaming. I think her kids might have been involved and there was a couple of young fellas looking for their mate,” he told the Herald. 

Kumeroa said he didn’t think when he sprang into action and was focused on trying to help others. 

“We couldn’t help too much but did what we could. Another guy was shouting out trying to find where his wife was,” he said. 

He said as he reached the scene, he saw a campervan upside-down, but it was too dangerous to try and get underneath it to search for survivors. 

Dre Kumeroa says his thoughts are with families waiting for news of their loved ones. Photo / Jason Dorday 

He also saw a man in a wetsuit who was on top of the facility housing the campground’s showers, toilet and kitchen who was trying to rip the roof off to reach those buried. 

He said his thoughts were with the families waiting inside the police cordon for news. 

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“I hope the families are doing all right at this time. You’ve got to be wishful [for a positive outcome].” 

Caravans and vehicles crushed in the landslide have been removed from the scene and a hearse was also seen driving through the cordon. 

Diggers continue to work alongside trucks to remove debris from around the campground to reach those missing. 

A damaged caravan on a tow truck getting removed from the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park landslide scene. Photo / Jason Dorday 

Two people have been confirmed dead. 

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told the Herald there are “multiple” people unaccounted for and the effort to clear the massive piles of debris “could take days”. 

He said “hundreds” of police from around the country were in the Bay of Plenty and disaster victim identification specialists were at the campground. 

Local kaumatua Kehukehu Butler told the Herald there had been around seven different slips around Mount Maunganui as a result of the Wednesday night’s storm. 

Kaumatua KehuKehu Butler believes Mount Maunganui should be closed for six months to a year. Photo / Michael Morrah 

“We have had slips on the maunga maybe two or three times before and it always comes with heavy rain. So, it’s not the first slip, but it is a first where it has taken lives.” 

He felt it was important for the mountain to remain closed for six months to a year while its safety is assessed by geologists. 

“To give the maunga a rest would be a blessing,” he told the Herald. 

Butler said his thoughts were with the families. 

“I came down here to do a karakia this morning so that the workers could go back and carry on with their work and finding the loved ones of the families.” 

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named Reporter of the Year at the New Zealand Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.