Landslides Plow Into New Zealand House, Campground

Landslides hit a house and a campground in New Zealand on Thursday, leaving at least two dead while emergency crews tried to rescue others buried in the rubble, officials said. The first landslide hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay, on New Zealand's North Island, at 4:50am, police said, per the AP. Two people escaped the house, and the bodies of two who were trapped inside were recovered hours later, according to Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell. Later the same morning, emergency services were called to a second slide at the base of nearby Mount Maunganui. The rubble hit Beachside Holiday Park, in the town named after the extinct volcano.

Police Superintendent Tim Anderson said the number of people missing was in the "single figures." No survivors or bodies had been recovered by late Thursday from the Mount Maunganui rubble, where dogs were being used to sniff for victims, Mitchell said. Further north near Warkworth, a man was missing after floodwaters swept him from a road Wednesday morning as heavy rain lashed large swaths of the North Island, a police statement said. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urged residents in affected areas to heed local authorities' safety advice during these severe conditions.

"Extreme weather continues to cause dangerous conditions across the North Island," Luxon posted on social media. "Right now, the government is doing everything we can to support those impacted." William Pike, a commander with Fire and Emergency NZ, said there were some signs of life immediately after the Mount Maunganui landslide. "Members of the public ... tried to get into the rubble and did hear some voices," Pike told reporters. "Our initial fire crew arrived and ... were able to hear the same. Shortly after our initial crew arrived, we withdrew everyone from the site due to possible movement and slip."

Australian tourist Sonny Worrall said he was lazing in a hot pool at the campground when he heard, then saw the landslide. "I looked behind me and there's a huge landslide coming down. And I'm still shaking from it now," Worrall told New Zealand's 1News. "I turned around and I had to jump out from my seat as fast as I could and just run." He looked back to see the rubble carrying a travel trailer behind him. "It was like the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life," Worrall added.