Mourners pay their respects at the Mount Maunganui landslide memorial. Photo / Corey Fleming
Fundraisers and memorial services are being run across New Zealand for victims of Mount Maunganui’s fatal landslide.
The cordon at Mount Maunganui has been visited by a constant stream of mourners, some of whom pause for a moment of reflection and prayer, while others lay down flowers and leave written messages of support.
About 100 people, including teenagers, gathered at the Auckland Domain on Monday to remember Sharon Maccanico.
The 15-year-old Pakūranga College student remains one of six people unaccounted for after the fatal landslide at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at the base of Mauao last Thursday.
In the days before the disaster, Sharon was on summer holiday with family and her friend, Max Furse-Kee, also 15, who is also among those missing. A final photo of the pair together was shared four days ago.
The “open, peaceful gathering” welcomed anyone who wanted to “stand in unity, to grieve, to remember, and to pay their respects and honour Sharon, who touched so many hearts”.
A pair of young women said a prayer at the vigil. They thanked god for the “light” Sharon brought to everyone she was able to touch.
“Please take care of her, Lord,” one young mourner said.
A Givealittle page was set up by a close family friend to support Max’s family while they navigate their “unimaginable loss”.
More than 700 people have donated money to the fund so far, raising almost $40,000.
Joshua White-Holliday said he had known the family for 23 years and had the privilege to watch Max grow into a bright, kind and much-loved person.
“My heart, too, is broken, mourning my own memories of Max, especially in those early years.
“He was always in tow at dinners and coffee catch-ups, always excited to be there, and he brought so much light to those moments just by being himself.”
Another Givealittle page has been set up to support the family of Lisa Maclennan, the Morrinsville school teacher who tried to warn others of the slip moments before it happened.
“We are fundraising on behalf of Travis and his family to help them through this difficult time. We cannot put a value on the loss of a loved one, but any donations will make a difference and help this whanau through this extremely difficult time.”
More than $15,000 has been raised so far.
Members of the Chiefs and Drua Super Rugby teams gathered together at Mount Main Beach to pay their respects on Tuesday afternoon.
The teams are playing later this week, and joined in a large circle on the beach with their arms around each other, as Chiefs halfback Tamiro Armstrong led a karakia on behalf of the team.
In response, the karakia was followed by an impromptu traditional song by the Fijian team.
Afterwards, Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson said the teams wanted to gather together to acknowledge the tragedy and pay their respects to those who are still missing.
“We feel for you, we’re right here for you,” Jacobson said.
“We’re not here to be a distraction or anything, but we’re playing a game here, and part of that is getting around the community. We’re just here to pay our respects.”
Bay of Plenty police district commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said police, Tauranga City Council and geotechnical experts wanted to thank the community for its understanding while the “delicate work” was ongoing.
“It’s been humbling to see the outpouring of support and aroha from so many people, including those providing food for staff and the many offers of equipment and supplies.”
Anderson said he wanted to acknowledge the “enormous” efforts of the family liaison officers and the specialist staff working at the scene.
“They are extremely dedicated people who are keen to reunite families with their loved ones as soon as possible, and they are doing an incredibly thorough and professional job.
“The community has rallied around the families and the responders, and it really shows what a special place this is.”
Senior Constable Barry Shepherd told Ryan Bridge TODAY that police were not yet able to say how many bodies they had recovered from the slip site.
“As you would understand, this has been a huge landslide. There has been a lot of destruction,” Shepherd said.
“Some of these people were in and around a building. There’s thousands and thousands of tonnes of dirt that has absolutely smashed that building... it’s tricky.“
New geotech monitoring equipment had been brought in to help monitor ground conditions and assess risk while they move through the site.
“This site is not safe, and it never has been safe,” Shepherd said.
“We are just using all our skills and knowledge and all the technology to try and make it safe to work there.”
People have reportedly been circumventing the cordons to walk up Mauao, something Shepherd said was “disrespectful” to the victims’ families.
Access to Mauao remained “out of bounds” until further notice.
“The local iwi has a rāhui on Mount Maunganui at the moment, and it is closed. And I imagine it will be closed for quite some time,” Shepherd said.
“To those people that might think it’s clever to sneak through the cordons or the boundaries, please don’t. It’s just really disrespectful, and we don’t need that ... there’s a lot of families hurting over this.”
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale criticised the spread of misinformation on social media surrounding the build-up to last Thursday’s events, saying such rhetoric was “not helpful” while first responders remained on the scene and in the recovery phase.
Ryan Bridge questioned Drysdale about reports that council workers drove past smaller slips on Mauao before the fatal landslide.
Drysdale refused to comment on the “absolute specifics” of which slips the council knew about and when.
He confirmed a person called 111 in the early hours of January 22 to report a slip near the campground, by the stone steps. Fire and Emergency New Zealand then alerted the council as the landowner responsible.
Important questions around the landslide, including the decision-making of officials, could not be answered until all the facts had been verified.
“Look, we need to stand this up, we need to get the facts out there, we need to know exactly what we knew when, and we will do that,” Drysdale said.
“It is very important for the community, for the families and for us to know exactly whether we acted appropriately, and that will be done. But let’s wait until we actually have all the facts in front of us, and stop drawing conclusions...”
“There’s a lot of geotech experts out there on Facebook, I can tell you that.”
A design engineering firm with geotechnical expertise installed three cameras on Monday night, which provided a “visual web” of the slip and slope area, up to 300m wide.
Drones also captured photo imagery of the mountainside three times a day.
Three human spotters were also watching the mountain constantly while crews were working on the recovery.
“Every person at the scene has been told to raise the alarm if they see potential movement. It doesn’t matter if it turns out to be a false alarm – our main concern is for the people working that danger zone,” Anderson said.
Several blocks of streets from the maunga were within the police cordon, meaning many of the businesses within it have been closed since Thursday, costing them thousands of dollars per day.
Anderson said Tauranga City Council had held discussions with business owners on Tuesday as site leaders considered whether relaxing the cordon was possible.
He was unable to say when any cordon changes could happen, but said one consideration had been whether businesses could open to foot traffic while the cordon remained closed to non-essential vehicles.
He hoped decisions related to the cordon could be made in the coming days.