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Multiple children are missing after a massive landslide destroyed the popular Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on New Zealand's North Island.
Foreign tourists, including Australians, were among those caught up in the chaos as caravans, tents, vehicles, and toilet amenities were seen in dramatic footage being flattened by the slip, which was caused by record-breaking rainfall in recent days.
Two people were left dead in a separate slide, which hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay, also on New Zealand's North Island at 4.50am.
Another two people managed to escape the house, while the bodies of two who were trapped inside were recovered hours later, emergency management minister Mark Mitchell said.
Later the same morning, emergency services were called to the second slide at the base of nearby Mount Maunganui.
The Beachside Holiday Park has since been evacuated, and the public is urged to avoid the area, as emergency responders launch a desperate search for those feared trapped.
Rescue workers have said there are no signs of life at the campsite, while Mitchell confirmed 'at least one young girl' is among those unaccounted for. Police Superintendent Tim Anderson added that the number of people missing was in the 'single figures'.
Mitchell told RNZ that sections of the east coast resembled 'a war zone', with helicopters deployed to rescue families sheltering on rooftops from flooding, and local states of emergency declared in five regions in Northland and the East Cape.
Multiple children missing as landslide destroys New Zealand campsite
