New Zealand landslide: six missing named as police confirm victims are unlikely to be found alive

Victims of landslide at Mount Maunganui campsite include teenage students, a literacy coordinator and a Swedish national

The families and friends of six people buried in a landslide at a New Zealand holiday park last week have paid tribute to their loved ones, after they were named by officials, and police confirmed they were unlikely to be found alive.

The victims include 15-year-old Pakūranga College students Sharon Maccanico and Max Furse-Kee, literacy coordinator Lisa Maclennan, 50, longtime friends Jacqualine Wheeler and Susan Knowles, both 71, and Swedish national Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20.

Police Supt Tim Anderson said the operation had been focused on saving the lives of those missing beneath the mountains of dirt and debris that crashed into a campsite in Mount Maunganui on Thursday, but the search had moved into a recovery phase.

“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,” Anderson said over the weekend.