Shared to Instagram, helicopter footage shows the extent of the landslides on Mt Maunganui. Video / Amy Till
One of the contractors trying to locate victims at Mount Maunganui after last month’s deadly incident was bitten by a police search and rescue dog.
Police have confirmed the contractor – believed to be operating a digger or excavator – received medical treatment after the incident, which is nowunder review.
Six people died after a section of Mauao hillside collapsed, sending a landslide into the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park and the Mount Hot Pools about 9.30am on January 22.
It followed a record 24 hours of rain in Tauranga, with the region under a state of emergency amid a red weather warning.
Marsh noted the fraught and uncertain nature of the work being carried out at the site on the day, which was still an effort to find any survivors.
“We want to acknowledge that everyone involved in the operation was working under incredibly challenging circumstances,” he said.
“We thank all emergency services and the contractors for their huge effort during the operation.”
Members of the public paid respects at the Pilot Bay police cordon set up after a tragic landslide at a campground in Mount Maunganui. Photo / Anna Heath
Marsh did not want the incident to take away from any of the gruelling work done by those at the site to recover all of the victims.
By Sunday, all of the Mount Maunganui victims had been formally identified.
They were Pakuranga College student couple Sharon Maccanico and Max Furse-Kee, both 15; Rotorua friends Susan (Sue) Doreen Knowles and Jacqualine (Jackie) Wheeler, both 71; Swedish tourist Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20; and Morrinsville teacher Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50.
Although work at the scene has stopped, police confirmed technology remained in place to monitor any land movements.
Some areas would stay cordoned off until police – in consultation with council and geotechnical experts – deemed them safe for the public.
The six people killed in the Mauao landslide were (clockwise from top left) Pakuranga College student couple Sharon Maccanico and Max Furse-Kee, both 15; Rotorua property manager Susan Doreen Knowles, 71; Morrinsville educator Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50; Swedish tourist Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20; and Rotorua interior design store co-founder Jacqualine Wheeler, 71.
Two other people were killed in a separate slip on Welcome Bay Road in Pāpāmoa. They were identified as 10-year-old Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother, Yao Fang, 71.
“We are very relieved for the families that all their loved ones have now been returned to them,” said Bay of Plenty Police District Commander, Superintendent Tim Anderson.
