The recovery efforts are continuing at the Mount Maunganui landslide as families and friends of the six missing victims grieve their loved ones.

Those still missing include two Pakuranga College students, two 71-year-old friends from Rotorua, a Morrinsville school tutor, and a Swedish tourist.

The operation has now switched from rescue to recovery.

NZ Herald senior investigative reporter Michael Morrah, who's been in Mount Maunganui, says emergency crews are now moving to what's known as a 'de-layering' exercise.

"This is where they are taking tonnes of debris and they are moving it to one side and they are meticulously going through this, looking for human remains."

LISTEN ABOVE