Homes were evacuated and roads closed as the heavy rain hit almost the entire eastern seaboard of the North Island.

The landslide happened at 9.30am local time, sending rubble barrelling down on the campsite in Mount Maunganui, a popular tourist ⁠spot on the northern coast of New Zealand.

One witness, Nix Jaques, told Radio NZ she heard an incredibly loud noise as she was about to walk up a mountain.

“I turned around and I could see the land coming down onto some structures,” she said. “There were some vehicles that were moved. It came down on an ablutions block – I believe there were some people in the showers – and it shifted ‍a camper van, there was a family with a camper van.”

Hundreds of families at the site were evacuated and emergency services were ‍working to locate anybody who remained in the area, authorities said at a press conference.