Location:
The search for victims of Thursday’s landslide at Mount Maunganui is now moving into a recovery phase.
Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the operation was formally handed over to Police by Fire and Emergency New Zealand at 11:20am today.
“Every single person involved in this operation has been focused solely on saving the lives of the people under the slip. Search teams have been working through the slip layer by layer, but tragically it is now apparent that we will not be able to bring them home alive.