Two separate landslides hit homes and a campsite at a popular tourist hotspot in New Zealand on Thursday, Jan. 22

Yao Fang and Austen Keith Richardson.Credit : New Zealand Police

Two victims of the deadly landslides that struck homes and campsite in a popular tourist area in New Zealand have been identified.

On Tuesday, Jan. 27, New Zealand Police confirmed in a news release the names of two people who were killed following a landslide on nearby Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcanic dome known for its sandy beaches and hiking trails.

Austen Keith Richardson, 10, and his grandmother, Yao Fang, 71, had been in a property on Welcome Bay Rd, Pāpāmoa, when the residence was damaged amid the disaster on Thursday, Jan. 22. Their deaths have been referred to the coroner, according to New Zealand Police.

“Austen and his grandmother had an incredibly close relationship – with Austen affectionately calling her Nai Nai,” their family said in a statement provided to police.

Austen Keith Richardson and Yao Fang.New Zealand Police

Austen was the only child of parents Keith and Angel and the only grandchild of Fang.

He was just 8 months old when his family moved to New Zealand from Shanghai, China, while his grandmother would also spend extensive periods of time in New Zealand.

“Austen had just finished at Arataki School, where he thrived in the Montessori class,” his family statement continued, per New Zealand Police. “It perfectly suited his personality. He had been accepted to Bethlehem College and was due to start as a Year 7 at the school shortly.”

“A gifted musician, Austen loved piano, was extremely mechanically minded, loved building Lego, riding motorbikes, Pokémon and solving math equations,” the family recalled. “The weekend before the tragedy, we visited the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival before surprising him with his dream motocross bike from a mate on the way home. This will forever be a treasured memory.”

The family revealed that Austen had many friends from the Annual Honda Kids Camp at Lake Rotoiti. He spoke fluent Mandarin and loved joining his family on trips back to China.

The family said they felt “lucky” that his grandmother, Fang, spent plenty of time with them.

“She was a beautiful mother and grandmother, deeply caring, so generous and always prioritizing looking after others ahead of herself,” they said in their statement provided to New Zealand Police. “Fang worked as an architect in China while raising Angel as a solo parent.”

“She loved the nature in New Zealand, helped us grow an incredible vegetable garden, looked after our chickens, and joined us at Chinese Methodist Church in Greerton,” the family continued. “We are grateful for the amazing support we have received from family and friends, the wider community as well as the emergency services and support agencies who have wrapped around us as we come to terms with this.”

Emergency services at Mount Maunganui.DJ MILLS / AFP via Getty

“We are absolutely devastated by the loss of our treasured son and his beloved Nai Nai,” they concluded. “Our thoughts are also with the other families impacted by the Mount Maunganui tragedy and what they are going through.”

A police cordon on Welcome Bay Rd was lifted Sunday morning, despite multiple properties having been destroyed by the landslides, The New Zealand Herald reported.

A neighbor told the outlet that Austen and Fang were “amazing people” as they gushed about the family being open to helping others.

“It’s just unfair, when it happens to a very lovely family, lovely people. You don’t wish this on anyone, but on top of it, they were amazing people,” said the neighbor, per the Herald. 

Chalium Poppy, the director of music at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Mount Maunganui, had a music lesson with Austen scheduled for the day the landslide struck. He received a text message from a friend of the family raising concerns about Austen’s absence.

“It really hasn’t sunken in yet in terms of Austen’s passing if I’m honest,” Poppy told the Herald. “There’s 1000 calls that you get as a music teacher from students, and you know it’s tonsillitis or they’re not coming today, they’ve got the flu. It’s like the call you never get and that you never expect to get that they’re not coming because they’re dead.”

Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.Michael Bradley/Getty

On Jan. 22, multiple people were also reported missing following a separate, nearby landslide that hit a campsite at a popular tourist hotspot. Two teens are among those missing.

The missing include 15-year-olds Sharon Maccanico and Max Furse-Kee, Lisa Maclennan, 50, longtime friends Jacqualine Wheeler and Susan Knowles, both 71, and Swedish national Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20, per The Guardian.

Over the weekend, Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the operation 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, per the outlet. “We informed the families of this news this morning … They are going through something very few people could understand, and we ask that they be given space to grieve.”

According to The Guardian, human remains were found on Friday and formal identification is now taking place. Search efforts had to pause on Sunday due to unstable conditions, but they resumed this week.

New Zealand Police announced in a news release on Monday, Jan. 26, that recovery efforts have resumed following advice from two independent geotechnical experts. The search area where the landslide hit had previously been “deemed too hazardous” for teams to work.

“There is an ever-present risk to the dedicated teams working in the shadow of the maunga, but sensitive surveillance equipment is now giving us a real-time overview of the condition of the environment,”  said Anderson. “Slight movements can be tracked, and we can get people out of the immediate area under the slip.”

“We are doing everything we can to protect the people who are trying to reunite loved ones with their families,” Anderson added. “Recovery teams are working methodically through the scene, but there are still many days of work ahead of us.

“Due to the conditions, there is no timeline for completing our work. It is a delicate operation, and it will take as long as it takes,” he concluded.