5hownewsday
Junior member
- Messages
- 41
- Likes
- 3
Searchers in earthquake-devastated Christchurch said Saturday they had found no bodies in the city's iconic cathedral and the death toll could be lower than initially feared.
Since the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on February 22, it had been reported that as many as 22 bodies were buried in the rubble of the 130-year-old cathedral, the centrepiece of New Zealand's second city.
"We have cleared the cathedral site and we found no bodies in the cathedral at all, so to us that's fantastic news," police superintendent Sandra Manderson told Radio New Zealand.
"Urban search and rescue have cleared the whole area, they've cleared the tower, they've cleared the church and they've cleared the immediate surrounding area all round the church, and they've found no bodies."
She said police were now trying to establish where the estimate of 22 people trapped in the cathedral had come from and the list of missing people was being reviewed.
"It will be really good if that does go down, and it's highly possible," Manderson said.
The confirmed death toll stood at 165 on Saturday and police had said they expected it to rise to more than 240.
The dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Peter Beck, said he cried when told by the head of the Urban Search and Rescue task force, Ralph Moore, there were no bodies in the rubble.
"I was expecting to get a call from him saying they had found a body and I and my colleagues were going to go down and say prayers at the side of the body.
"But of course I got this other news and I just burst into tears. I was speechless, it was unbelievable."
Since the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on February 22, it had been reported that as many as 22 bodies were buried in the rubble of the 130-year-old cathedral, the centrepiece of New Zealand's second city.
"We have cleared the cathedral site and we found no bodies in the cathedral at all, so to us that's fantastic news," police superintendent Sandra Manderson told Radio New Zealand.
"Urban search and rescue have cleared the whole area, they've cleared the tower, they've cleared the church and they've cleared the immediate surrounding area all round the church, and they've found no bodies."
She said police were now trying to establish where the estimate of 22 people trapped in the cathedral had come from and the list of missing people was being reviewed.
"It will be really good if that does go down, and it's highly possible," Manderson said.
The confirmed death toll stood at 165 on Saturday and police had said they expected it to rise to more than 240.
The dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Peter Beck, said he cried when told by the head of the Urban Search and Rescue task force, Ralph Moore, there were no bodies in the rubble.
"I was expecting to get a call from him saying they had found a body and I and my colleagues were going to go down and say prayers at the side of the body.
"But of course I got this other news and I just burst into tears. I was speechless, it was unbelievable."
