‘Dark Days' in New Zealand as Quake Toll Rises to 113
New Zealand warned frantic relatives to brace for the worst Friday as toiling rescuers failed to find any more survivors after a devastating earthquake left at least 113 dead.
As rain hampered the painstaking search of the wreckage in Christchurch's city center, Foreign Minister Murray McCully admitted: "The rescue focus is drawing towards a conclusion."
"We're getting to the end of that period in which you can still have hope," he said, two days after the last survivors were pulled from underneath the rubble.
Police said 113 bodies were lying in a temporary morgue, and there were 228 still listed as missing after Tuesday's earthquake laid waste to central Christchurch and some of its suburbs.
The city's iconic cathedral lost its spire, office blocks folded like packs of cards and entire streets lost their shop frontages in the 6.3-magnitude tremor, which came after another destructive quake hit last September.
"These are very, very dark days for New Zealand," said Prime Minister John Key, holding out hope for "a bit of luck to try and find a few people that may still have survived this earthquake and are still trapped in those buildings.”
But experts have warned the chances of anyone being alive in the ruins are slim, and with 90 percent of the city center already combed, Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said the outlook was bleak.
Rescuers have ruled out finding survivors at Christchurch's landmark cathedral, where up to 22 people could be buried.
They also do not believe anyone remains alive under the collapsed CTV building, which housed a TV station and a busy language school for foreign students, and where as many as 120 people may have perished.
Most of Christchurch, New Zealand's second biggest city, was left without power and water after the disaster, which prompted a mass exodus of terrified residents and left a damage bill estimated at NZ$10 billion (US$7.5 billion).
Police expressed disgust at an outbreak of looting and scams, with some people posing as officials to gain access to homes. In one case, burglars struck at the home of a woman missing in the quake.
District commander Dave Cliff said drunken disorder was also on the rise in the city, where stressed residents have endured the two major earthquakes along with thousands of aftershocks.
Christchurch's Rugby World Cup stadium was closed Friday until March 15 to assess the extent of the quake damage and determine if it could still host games during the tournament later this year, its operator Vbase said.
Amid all the gloom, there was one note of happiness when quake survivor Emma Howard, who was pulled from the wreckage of a downtown office building, wed partner Chris Greenslade.
"I'm so lucky I didn't get under my desk," the accountant told Radio New Zealand after her lucky escape. "My desk was crushed by the corner of the concrete floor roof above me that came down."
The arrival of Chinese and British rescuers swelled the multinational taskforce to more than 600. However, rain and aftershocks made conditions tough and dangerous.
Officials say 26 Chinese nationals are missing along with at least 26 Japanese, 12 Filipinos and a South Korean brother and sister. Two British nationals are among the dead.