Multiple children remain unaccounted for after a major landslide destroyed a popular campsite on New Zealand‘s North Island.

Shocked campers felt violent shaking and heard harrowing screams as the landslide struck Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at about 9.30am on Thursday.

Caravans, tents, vehicles and toilet amenities were flattened by the slip caused by record-breaking rainfall in recent days. One caravan was hurled into the nearby hot pools.

Locals and passers-by rushed to help by climbing onto a toilet block roof after desperate screams were heard from inside.

It comes after Tauranga – the closest city to Mount Maunganui – received 295mm in the 30 hours to 6am Thursday.

The campground has been evacuated and the public urged to avoid the area, as emergency responders launch a desperate search for those feared trapped.

Police District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the number of those missing is in the ‘single figures’, adding that it is ‘possible we will find someone alive’.

Multiple children are among those missing.

A desperate search continues for campers feared trapped after a massive landslide

A young girl is among those feared missing at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Par

The landslide caused extensive damage to caravans, campervans and vehicles

No one has yet been rescued from the rubble.

Campers were heard yelling from underneath the rubble before rescuers were forced to stand down temporarily due to safety concerns, amid fears of a second slip.

‘We’re going right through [the night] until we’ve rescued everyone,’ Fire and Emergency NZ commander William Park told reporters.

‘It was a significant landslip and the priority was life safety.

‘It’s a complex and high-risk environment.’

Mark Tangney was heading to Mount Maunganui for a hike when he heard screams and saw people running from the campground

“I was one of the first there. There were six or eight other guys there on the roof of the toilet block with tools just trying to take the roof off because we could hear people screaming ‘help us, help us, get us out of here’.

“I was one of the first there. There were six or eight other guys there on the roof of the toilet block with tools just trying to take the roof off because we could hear people screaming ‘help us, help us, get us out of here’.

Fisherman Alister Hardy heard ‘rolling thunder and cracking of trees’, before looking up and seeing ‘the whole hillside gave way’.

‘There were people running and screaming and I saw people get bowled. There are people trapped,’ he told the NZ Herald.

Camper Carly Morley added: ‘The toilet block up the top has been taken out with a number of caravans.

The landslide was caused by record-breaking rainfall in recent days

The public has been urged to avoid the area as a desperate search for those unaccounted for continues

‘It’s all slid right down through the hot pools… there’s been helicopters, surf life savers are over there helping, and they’re just trying to cut into the toilet block at the moment.’