'The cliff's coming down': Family's narrow escape in Awakino Gorge
A family narrowly escaped a massive cliff collapse in New Zealand's Awakino Gorge after a road worker alerted them to the danger. The incident caused significant damage to State Highway 3, leading to road closures while crews work to clear debris.
Why it matters
The event highlights the ongoing infrastructure and safety challenges posed by environmental instability in New Zealand's remote regions.
A Taranaki family driving to Auckland in darkness escaped by seconds as a cliff face collapsed onto State Highway 3 in the Awakino Gorge early Saturday, waved to safety by a road worker who sprinted at their truck yelling for them to turn back. Nikita Phillips, her partner and one of their young daughters had left New Plymouth at 3am, heading north for what began as a work trip and became a family outing. They reached the gorge between 4am and 5am in steady rain, then hit a standstill just past a stop-and-go point when the road ahead gave way. "All I can remember is him just going, 'oh my god, hun, look, the cliff's coming down'," she told 1News. Her partner jumped out to look as she watched the driver ahead abandon his truck and a road worker come running.
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