Family unhurt as house falls into a hole

8.45 am

UPDATE - A family of five survived unhurt when their house fell into a hole in the Coromandel mining town of Waihi overnight.

A hole 50m wide and 15 metres deep opened up over an old mine shaft in Barry Rd around 12.15 am.

National Radio reports that a 7-year-old girl, a 9-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy were in the home with their parents when the house collapsed.

The house was destroyed and the family also lost a vehicle and two caravans. A neighbour's car and garage have also disappeared.

All houses within 100m of the subsidence have been evacuated.

Waihi resident George Cortesi said he was wakened after midnight when firefighters arrived at his neighbour's home.

He went outside to find his neighbour's house had disappeared into the ground.

He said the family who lived in the destroyed house was very shaken and lucky to get out unhurt.

Mr Cortesi said he the man who lived in the house told him he had just turned off his television and gone to bed.

"He looked up and the glass from the top of his windows was just about on top of him."

Mr Cortesi said he and his family hurriedly packed a few possessions and left the area.

He said it was hard to believe a house had disappeared into a hole in the ground.

"All I could see was no house," said Mr Cortesi, who left his farm near Hamilton to move to Waihi a month ago.

He said his rented house was undamaged "at this stage" but he did not know if he would be allowed to return.

Engineers from the Hauraki District Council are at the scene and will be updating police on the area's safety and likelihood of more movement later this morning.

The Fire Service would no longer be required at the scene unless two houses about 5m from the hole moved.

The Waihi gold mining company was not available for comment this morning.

State Highway 25 through Waihi is closed as authorities investigate the cause of the subsidence.

Waihi is at the northern end of the Bay of Plenty approximately 40km northwest of Tauranga.

- NZPA