Two people were killed and more than 20 injured when a tornado tore a 5-kilometre swathe through the northern suburbs of Auckland on Tuesday, police said, DPA reported.
The tornado ripped the roof of a shopping mall in Albany, 20 kilometres north of central Auckland, overturning cars, lifting sheets of metal roofing from homes, uprooting trees and tossing garden furniture and trampolines in the air, news reports said.
Three critically injured people were among more than 20 taken to hospital, Radio New Zealand reported.
A supermarket and a large hardware store were extensively damaged as the tornado, with a reported wind speed of 200 kilometres an hour, ripped through the suburbs.