CHRISTCHURCH, (Reuters) – New Zealand’s earthquake death toll was confirmed at 71, but Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that the country must expect that number to rise.
The 6.3-magnitude quake devastated Christchurch, the country’s second-biggest city, and rescue teams combed through rubble for a second night under searchlights. Searchers found no more survivors from Tuesday’s earthquake.
“We do have to brace ourselves that while the official toll is 71 that number will rise today and tomorrow,” Key told Television 3.
The death toll was previously put at 75 but officials revised that. “We have currently in morgues across the city 71 people confirmed dead, we are aware there are other bodies but we haven’t got a number on that,” Civil Defence Minister John Carter told reporters.
He said early reports of up to 300 other people missing was speculation and it was not known how many were unaccounted for.
Carter said around 2,500 people have been injured, 164 seriously.
Police said they were still holding out hope that people were still alive in wrecked buildings.
“Experts tell me that there are pockets within a number of these buildings, and providing people haven’t been crushed there’s no reason that we will not get people out of there,” shift commander Russell Gibson said.
However, he said signs were not good for finding anyone alive in a flattened building that housed a local television channel and an English language school, which had many Japanese students, with as many as 100 people still in the building.
