New Zealand: Quake death toll reaches 113

World

New Zealand: Quake death toll reaches 113

Close

New Zealand and international rescue teams held out little hope of finding survivors three days after an earthquake struck Christchurch as the death toll reached 113 with more than 200 missing.

25 February,2011 05:48 am

Teams from quake-prone countries such as Japan, Taiwan and the United States used sniffer dogs and lowered microphones into piles of rubble to probe for signs of life after a 6.3 magnitude quake struck the countrys second biggest city. Hundreds of rescuers toiled for a third night under floodlights in a desperate search for people trapped in collapsed buildings.Rescuers were working under threat that a 26-storey hotel tower might collapse, possibly bringing down other buildings. Engineers were checking the building to see if an exclusion zone around it could be reduced allowing other buildings to be checked. The sources claim that rescue teams are still busy in finding the missing people, although very little hope of their survival is left now.