Statement from Fire and Emergency Chief Executive - Muriwai Search and Rescue

15 Huitanguru 2023

This statement is from Fire and Emergency Chief Executive Kerry Gregory.

On Monday night, two of our firefighters were trapped in a collapsed house after a landslide at Muriwai. One was rescued and is in hospital. Since then, our Urban Search and Rescue Team has been searching for our missing firefighter.

This morning, our team, working alongside Police, has located a body in the area where they were searching. We have not yet identified who this is and will be working with Police to retrieve and identify the body.

We will provide more information later today. I acknowledge the difficult time this is for all of us, particularly for family, the Muriwai Volunteer Fire Brigade and all at Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

I ask media to please respect the family’s wishes for privacy at this time.