Tornado death: Stacked shipping containers collapse in Wiri leaving one person dead

One person is dead and two injured after a tornado ripped through a Ports of Auckland shipping container yard in south Auckland this morning.

Around half a dozen stacked shipping containers collapsed when a tornado hit the area around 8.30am today.

Police are currently at the site on Wiri Station Rd, Wiri.

However, it is understood the fallen shipping containers may not be directly responsible for the death.

Worksafe have been notified and police say they are also making enquiries into the incident.

“Ports of Auckland’s South Auckland Freight Hub was hit by what appears to be a tornado shortly after 08.30 this morning,” Ports of Auckland said in a statement.

“One person working on site has been killed and two people were injured and have been taken to hospital.

“These people are not Ports of Auckland staff or staff from the Ports of Auckland subsidiary Conlinxx, which operates the freight hub.

“The tornado caused significant damage to the site and dislodged multiple containers.

“We are shocked by this freak event and our thoughts are with the people affected.”

A witness at the scene said multiple containers have toppled.

“It was carnage through the rail yard. They were all staged out the front of the yard,” the witness said.

“Workers were standing around looking quite distraught. There were three ambulances and a specialist response team, multiple police.

“One person has been removed by ambulance from the scene I’ve seen. They were working on someone in the back of the ambulance. Multiple containers had been blown over.”

Fire and Emergency also confirmed they were attending the scene.

The land is understood to be owned by Ports of Auckland.

Parts of south Auckland have been hit by a violent tornado this morning uprooting trees, severely damaging homes and bringing power lines down.

Fire and Emergency have 22 crews currently attending around 90 calls across Papatoetoe relating to damaged property.

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