At least 98 people, including two infants, were killed in the magnitude 6.3 quake that struck New Zealand’s second-largest city on Tuesday, toppling office buildings and raining debris on buses and cars. Police warned on Thursday that scores of bodies may still be buried in the rubble.
Around 226 people were still unaccounted for, according to Superintendent Dave Cliff, the commander of the Canterbury district police. He said officials have “serious and grave concerns” for the missing and urged people awaiting news of their loved ones to give police any information that might help identify their remains.
Superintendent Cliff said many of the 98 bodies recovered thus far had not been identified, and may account for some of the 226 missing people. Nevertheless, officials cautioned that the final toll could be higher still. “We are very fearful tonight that the death toll could be much greater than any of us ever feared,” Prime Minister John Key said. He and Superintendent Cliff said the figure of 226 missing did not include overseas nationals whose families may not yet have contacted New Zealand police.
Earlier on Thursday, Cliff said that rescue workers had determined that there was “no chance” of finding any survivors at two of the most heavily damaged sites: ChristChurch Cathedral and the Canterbury Television headquarters building , which also housed an English language school.
He said as many as 22 people were believed to have been in and around the cathedral when its stone steeple collapsed into city’s main square, and that between 60 and 120 people could be buried in the debris of the Canterbury Television building.