New footage has revealed the extent of the destruction from a landslide in the Tauranga suburb of Pāpāmoa that killed a grandmother and her grandson.
Police have lifted the cordon on Welcome Bay Rd, now scattered with red stickered homes, after one of many large slips along the Pāpāmoa hills hit three properties about 4am on Thursday.
Confirmation of the deaths came from a surviving family member on Friday, who said, “It’s our house and our family lost”.
Several people close to the family told the Herald it was a grandmother and her grandson, about 10 years old, who died.
A neighbour who spoke to the Herald said three family generations lived in the home, understood to be a New Zealand-born man, his wife who immigrated from China and their son. The woman’s parents also lived at the property.
Earlier today, Minister for Emergency Management Mark Mitchell said he had visited the family.
“Obviously, the impact here at the Mount has been bloody tough on the community but we have Welcome Bay too where we lost a little 10-year-old guy and his grandmother.
“I just want to mention the family there. I met with the father and his grandfather the other day. They are not forgotten. They have certainly got the country’s thoughts with them as well.”
New footage and images of the hillside above Welcome Bay Rd show several homes completely taken out by a large slip, with mangled roofs and house frames barely standing above the rubble.
The thick mud completely filled the homes that slid down the hill from their original positions, and flowed to the roadside, covering the driveways.
About 8.30pm on Friday, police confirmed they had recovered two bodies from a Welcome Bay Rd address.
The police cordon to Welcome Bay Rd was lifted on Sunday morning.
However, security guards in Welcome Bay Rd continued to question anyone who parked along the street - saying they were acting on police orders.
The Herald spoke to a neighbour of the family who said three generations of a “lovely” family lived in the Pāpāmoa home where the two people died.
“They were one of those families that don’t hesitate to come and help you for any reason and check on you and see how you were. Excellent neighbours, honestly.
“It’s just unfair, when it happens to a very lovely family, lovely people. You don’t wish this on anyone, but on top of it, they were amazing people.”
The neighbour said a man had lived in the area for a long time.
“I know that he’s been here for ages. He’s a Kiwi, and once we talked about how this area was before anyone was here, and how people grew up here.
“He told us stories about other neighbours [in the past].”
However, the Welcome Bay Rd resident said she never thought a slip could occur on the hills above them, just a kilometre inland from the beach.
“You would never imagine you would have a slip because it was solid. You know when you feel like it’s a crumbly mountain, that you feel something will come falling at some point.
“It wasn’t, it was a 100% solid hill. It was a hill covered in grass, you would see cattle, you would see lambs. From time to time, you would see lambs coming into your property.”
On Saturday afternoon, police released the names of six people unaccounted for in a massive landslide at a Mount Maunganui campground.
Those missing are Rotorua grandmother Sue Knowles, Morrinsville school tutor Lisa Maclennan, 15-year-old Pakūranga College students Max Furse-Kee and Sharon Maccanico, 71-year-old Jacqualine Wheeler from Rotorua and 20-year-old Swedish tourist Mans Bernhardsson.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.