Youth dies after landslide hits house

Emergency services personnel can be seen at the landslide engulfed house at Ohope Beach in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / Troy Baker, Whakatane Beacon

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Police tonight recovered the body of a 17-year-old from the wreckage of a house destroyed by a giant landslide at Ohope Beach near Whakatane.

The landslide in the Bay of Plenty coastal community late this morning followed torrential rain in the area.

An elderly man escaped from the house when the slip crashed down but the teenager did not make it to safety.

Senior Sergeant Bruce Jenkins, Whakatane police, said in a statement the youth's body had been located and recovered.

Police said earlier the ground behind and around the landslide was still very unstable and a number of other houses in the area had been evacuated.

A massive pohutakawa tree was in danger of falling down the cliff onto the houses below.

Various parts of Whakatane suffered heavy flooding today but MetService said tonight the rain had eased although some heavy showers were still expected.

- NZPA

View June 18: Whakatane flooding in a larger map

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