Christchurch - Rescuers had to amputate limbs to free survivors from collapsed buildings in earthquake-hit Christchurch, police said Wednesday, estimating 100 people remained trapped in the rubble.
Superintendent Russell Gibson said bodies still littered the streets of New Zealand's second city after Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude quake and the death toll of 65 was set to rise significantly.
“There is incredible carnage right throughout the city,” he told Radio New Zealand. “There are bodies littering the streets, they are trapped in cars and crushed under rubble.”
Gibson said the number of trapped “could be another 100, it could easily be more than that”, adding the toll would rise from 65. “It will be significantly higher than that,” he said.
More than 500 rescuers, including police and military personnel, pulled between 20 and 30 people from the debris overnight, toiling through the darkness, he added.
“It's quite amazing, we have some people we've pulled out and they haven't got so much as a scratch on them, we've had other people where we've had to amputate limbs to get them out,” he said.
Gibson said emergency workers were going door to door through the city centre calling out to anyone who was trapped, with rescue efforts concentrating on two office buildings where survivors had managed to communicate with them.
“We are getting texts and tapping sounds from some of these buildings and that's where the focus is at the moment,” he said.
Prime Minister John Key on Tuesday said “We may be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day,” after the quake pummelled the city, six months after buildings were weakened by a 7.0 quake that miraculously claimed no victims. - Sapa-AFP