Welcome Bay tragedy: Name release and family statement

Police have confirmed the names of the two people who died during a landslide on Welcome Bay Road, Papamoa on Thursday.

Ten-year-old Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother, 71-year-old Yao Fang (pronounced Fung), died after the house they were in was extensively damaged by a landslide.

Police continue to support the family through this extremely difficult time.

Their deaths have been referred to the Coroner.

The following is a statement released on behalf of Keith and Angel:

Austen was the much-loved only child of Keith and Angel, and Fang’s only grandchild. Angel is also the only child of Fang.

Austen and his grandmother had an incredibly close relationship – with Austen affectionately calling her Nai Nai.

Austen was born in Shanghai, China, and we moved back to New Zealand with him when he was about eight months old. Since Austen was born, Fang has spent extended periods of time with us in New Zealand.

Austen had just finished at Arataki School where he thrived in the Montessori class. 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 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.

We also recently attended the Annual Honda Kids Camp at Lake Rotoiti where he always loved meeting his mates from previous years and making new friendships.

Austen spoke Mandarin fluently, was proud of his Chinese heritage and loved visiting China on our trips back.

We were lucky to have Fang spend so much time with us as a family. She was a beautiful mother and grandmother, deeply caring, so generous and always prioritising looking after others ahead of herself.

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.

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.

We are absolutely devastated by the loss of our treasured son and his beloved Nai Nai.

Our thoughts are also with the other families impacted by the Mount Maunganui tragedy and what they are going through.