A body has been found in the search for a missing firefighter in Auckland's Muriwai.
In a statement, Fire and Emergency chief executive Kerry Gregory said the Urban Search and Rescue team and police had located the body in the area where they had been searching.
Gregory said the body has not yet been identified, but FENZ would be working with police to retrieve and identify the person.
His colleague remains in hospital. (Source: 1News)
"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," he said.
The other volunteer firefighter remains in a critical condition after a landslide destroyed the house.
Craig Stevens was injured while investigating flooding inside a property on Motutara Rd on Monday night.
Stevens and his colleague became trapped after a landslide caused the house to collapse.
Crews were able to rescue Stevens, who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.
His family gave permission for his name to be released.
Craig Stevens is in hospital in a critical but stable condition, FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory said. (Source: Breakfast)
Gregory said he had visited Muriwai yesterday with regional manager Ron Devlin.
He said he had spoken with members of the brigade. "It's devastating... the brigade is really reeling... "
Gregory repeated comments he made yesterday that there are "grave concerns" for the missing firefighters safety, the longer the search for him goes on.
But Devlin said the organisation was not giving up hope.
"It may be worth saying as we enter today as the sun comes up… our intention is to bring our guy home."
Gregory said FENZ was still considering the search for the missing firefighter a "rescue mission" and were "hoping today for a successful result".
"Our teams on the ground... no one has given up hope for our firefighter and we are approaching it with as much expedience as we can to try and locate him."
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