Good Morning Britain hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley delivered breaking news on Thursday
A Good Morning Britain star announced “very difficult” breaking news on Thursday (January 22). This morning’s instalment of the popular ITV show was fronted by Susanna and Richard, delivering viewers the latest developments from throughout the UK and internationally.
They were accompanied in the studio by Laura Tobin, providing regular weather updates, whilst Ranvir Singh covered the remainder of the day’s headlines.
Within moments of going on air, Richard and Susanna disclosed that multiple individuals are missing following a landslide at a campsite in the New Zealand tourism destination of Mount Maunganui.
Emergency services have reported no indications of life at the location – Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell has stated “at least one young girl” is amongst those missing.
“Breaking news overnight, several people, including a child, are missing after a landslide hits a New Zealand campsite,” Richard declared, with Ranvir describing the occurrence as a “dramatic weather event on the other side of the world“, reports Wales Online.
Ranvir continued: “Rescuers and sniffer dogs are desperately digging through the debris at the popular tourist area of Mount Maunganui in the country’s North Island, which has been hit by record-breaking rainfall in recent days.”
During a pre-recorded package, featuring images of the landslides, correspondent Lorna Shaddick stated: “A sunny holiday spot obliterated in seconds. Caravans crushed, tents flattened, and lives upended.”
Australian holidaymaker Sonny Worrall described the moment: “I heard this huge tree crack and all this dirt come off behind me, there was a caravan coming right behind me. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
Lorna added: “Eye-witnesses say they did hear some voices from the rubble at first, but the emergency services had to withdraw because of the risk of another landslip. No signs of life have been detected since.”
Superintendent Tim Anderson explained: “Whilst the land’s still moving, they’re in a risky mission to rescue those people, so I can’t be drawn on numbers, but what I can say is that it’s single figures.”
Mount Maunganui is a dormant volcano on the north island, with a holiday park situated beneath it. The region has experienced its wettest day on record, receiving more than two months’ worth of rainfall within twelve hours, resulting in power cuts and hazardous flooding.
Concluding her report, Lorna stated: “Forecasters are calling it a once-in-a-hundred-year event.”
The Emergency Management Minister has subsequently confirmed that two bodies were retrieved from a separate landslide at Welcome Bay in Papamoa, according to the ABC. The Papamoa landslide had previously left two individuals missing and one person seriously injured.
“It’s a fluid and sensitive issue at the moment,” Mr Mitchell told Radio New Zealand when speaking about the Maunganui landslide. “Everyone is working as hard as they can to get the best possible resolution, but it is a very difficult and challenging situation.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am