As rescue workers continue to search through the Christchurch rubble following the biggest earthquake in 80 years, the death toll now stands at 75, with 300 missing.
The past eight hours have seen moments of pure joy as bystanders watched family, friends and colleagues emerge alive from the debris but also times of utter horror.
Emergency services had the terrible task of telling onlookers that noone would have survived inside the collapsed Canterbury Television building. It is thought around 100 people were inside but the building was too dangerous to enter.
It is likely that a number of Brits have been caught up in the 6.3-magnitude quake that shook the destination on Tuesday but as yet the British High Commission has been unable to confirm numbers.
A spokesperson from the Commission said it was highly likely that some British people would be being treated at Christchurch Hospital, adding: “About 360 people were treated last night, it would be amazing if there weren’t any Britons amongst that number.”
Now teams of rescue workers are centring their efforts around ten buildings, including the Pyne Gould Building, where emergency services believe around 50 people are trapped.
However, they work under dangerous conditions. Nearby, the 26-storey Hotel Grand Chancellor teeters and is very unstable – building engineers say it has shifted three feet since the earthquake.
Experts say if it falls, it will take out surrounding buildings and, of course, the brave emergency services who are labouring to free the trapped beneath the overwhelming rubble that has reduced this beautiful city centre to a building site.
* Christchurch Airport has now re-opened and both domestic and international flights have been resumed.
by Dinah Hatch
