Christchurch earthquake: rescue workers converge on New Zealand as hope of finding survivors fades
Crews from Britain, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and America arrived in New Zealand's second largest city on a day that failed to produce any more live rescues. The death toll jumped during the day to 98 after 24 bodies were pulled out of the destroyed Canterbury TV building alone. Recovery teams expect to find more as they pick through the debris. The number of people missing, for whom police hold "serious, grave fears", hit 226.
During the morning hopes were raised when there were reports of a woman calling for help from inside a collapsed chapel in the city centre. But rescue teams could find no sign of anyone trapped in the building. Rescue efforts centred on the Pine Gould building, where the last person to be found alive was pulled to safety yesterday. About 14 people are believed to be inside the crumbled block, but police dogs, listening devices and emergency crews had found no sign of life by the afternoon.