Local iwi say they have spoken this evening with a distraught father who has two children lost in the rubble at the Mount Maunganui campground landslide.
A slip on Thursday morning following a tropical storm at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park has left six people unaccounted for, and three others on a list of campers that had not checked out.
About 6pm today, three representatives from local iwi tribes around the Mount Maunganui area were allowed into the cordoned area at The Mall where the search continues at the base of Mount Maunganui volcano.
Tracy Ngatoko, of the Tauranga Moana iwi, was emotional speaking about the scenes at the campground where multiple families are in tears amid the heavy-duty search equipment and workers sifting through the rubble.
“I met just one parent, he was from Italy. He knows that two of his children are still in there. He’s trying to be as positive as possible because his wife isn’t in a good state at the moment knowing that the children are still stuck there,” she said.
“I can only send heaps of aroha and empathy to him at this time, and all the families impacted and affected.”
Ngatoko said she did not know the age of the children.
“I don’t want to speculate, children are a precious thing to anybody. I can only imagine what he and his wife and other families there are going through at the moment.
“But while it’s sombre and it’s sad and it’s devastating to see our mountain and our people trapped there, the spirit is still warm.”
Ngatoko said she began the blessing at the site with “a lamental cry”.
“Basically, I called upon our mountain, Mauao, to help the serviceman and the women who are trying to find those who are unaccounted for.
“It’s about requesting the mount to release the people who are unaccounted for, so that people can be found … make the job easy.”
Ngatoko said the males in the group conducted several karakia (prayers), one directed to the mountain, another directed to the events that have happened there, and also to the historical past the iwi have with Mount Maunganui volcano.
“Once upon a time, this iconic mountain used to be a burial ground,” Ngatoko said.
A final karakia was asking for assistance to the workers still looking for people: “in the hope that the weather would stay good across the next few days.. [that] the rain will cease to a stage where it stops from overflowing, [There are] many springs that sit on our mountain.
“Just to enable clear work and a pathway for our volunteers and policemen who are in there at the moment. We’re quite humbled that they stopped what they were doing just to be a part of it, to share [in] our rituals.”
Just as Ngatoko, Koro Nicholas and other iwi leaders passed through the cordon on The Wall a few hundred metres from the search site, an intense burst of rain swept through Mount Maunganui and Tauranga.
The change in conditions was dramatic as a clear sunny evening was wiped away by a downpour that drenched roadworkers manning the cordon at The Mall, assembled media, and members of the public.
However, barely 15 minutes after the rain hit, blue skies could be seen appearing again above the Mount Maunganui volcano.
“I think it was a cleansing in terms of what needs to be done and what needs to continue. The other part of it was the spiritual realm bestowed itself upon the physical realm and it’s really hard to explain that in English, probably better doing that in Māori.
“But when those two powers meet it was a phenomenal feeling. It was also a tohu for us, a symbol of the tears of our ancestors, and no doubt those of the affected families as well.
“Then when the last prayer was chanted and concluded, you’re not wrong, the sun came out. So that was sign enough for us they’ve heard our prayers. Like a lot of things, it’s in their hands now.”
Earlier today, it was revealed that a grandmother and her grandson were the two people killed in a slip that tore through a house in Pāpāmoa.
A neighbour confirmed three generations of the “lovely” family lived in the home on Welcome Bay Rd.
Confirmation of the deaths came from a surviving family member who said, “It’s our house and our family lost.”
About 8.30pm yesterday, police confirmed they had recovered two bodies from the site of the slip. Emergency services were called to the incident about 4.15am. Another person was seriously injured in the slip.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon skipped the annual Rātana celebrations today and instead travelled to weather-hit regions. He spoke at a press conference this afternoon.
An independent review will be carried out of all aspects leading up to the landslide, Mayor Mahé Drysdale and council chief Marty Grenfell announced.
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