THERE ARE serious concerns for the safety of five Irish people who are missing in New Zealand following the earthquake in its second-largest city, Christchurch.
The Department of Foreign Affairs says 200 Irish nationals are registered in the city. It says it has “general concerns” about 70 of those and “serious concerns” about five.
Last night prime minister John Key said that police had confirmed 75 deaths following the 6.3 magnitude quake which struck 10km southeast of the city at 1pm local time yesterday, devastating parts of the city and surrounding area.
The number of dead had risen from a provisional total of 65 earlier in the day. “The number of bodies that have been sighted and the number of people that are missing, the police indications to me are that they’re not in question about the 65 number, they’re just not quite sure where the number will finally settle,” Mr Key earlier told the national broadcaster.
A woman with a baby in her arms died in Cashel Street mall when she was hit by falling debris. The huge level of debris still makes it difficult to estimate how many were trapped.
Supt Russell Gibson said as many as 100 people could still be trapped. Some were pulled out uninjured overnight while others had limbs removed before they were freed.
Civil defence director John Hamilton told TVNZ survivors were pulled from the wreckage overnight and the focus remains on rescue rather than recovery.
More than 200 people have been admitted to Christchurch Hospital with a range of injuries.
Overnight the city was rocked by a number of large aftershocks, including one of magnitude 4.7 at 3.04am and one of magnitude 4.6 at 3.30am.
The CTV (Canterbury Television) building in the city centre became a tomb for many of its workers after the quake. Last night, local time, a senior officer in the city said up to 80 people may have been trapped in the offices of the local TV station.
The iconic Christ Church Cathedral was also destroyed, with its spire sprawled out over Cathedral Square.
A spire on the nearby The Press building in the square also collapsed, trapping workers on the third floor in the local newspaper offices.
Hundreds fled their places of work in the city centre after the jolt, some bleeding heavily, some screaming and others desperately searching for loved ones. Some were crushed by falling masonry and stone.
Two buses were also crushed by falling buildings, police said.
Christchurch Hospital was inundated after the quake and staff asked only the severely injured to attend. Welfare centres were set up throughout the city.
Large parts of the city remained without water and power yesterday evening as Christchurch people prepared for a night full of aftershocks.
Hundreds of people, some with no houses to go to, camped out in Hagley Park, a large green area just outside the city centre.
Local authorities advised people to stay at home if they could. Some of the city’s suburbs were decimated by liquefaction, with silt ruining houses and destroying roads.
Cars travelling through some streets had to weave between deep grey sludge pushed above ground by the force of the quake, pools of water and newly formed sinkholes. Burst water mains and pipes also meant parts of the city were badly flooded.