Rescuers halt search for quake survivors

RESCUERS have officially given up hope of finding more survivors of New Zealand’s earthquake, saying no one trapped in rubble when the disaster struck could still be alive.

The news was a blow to the families of about 200 people listed as missing, many of whom clung to faltering hope for good news despite more than a week of silence from beneath the piles of debris that still litter the city of Christchurch.

“We now face the reality that there is no chance that anyone could have survived this long,” Civil Defence Emergency Management national controller John Hamilton told a conference.

“Sadly, there becomes a point where the response effort shifts in focus from rescue to body recovery,” he said. “We have now reached that point.”

Rescuers have pulled 161 bodies from the rubble, but the majority have not yet been identified, and dozens more dead are thought to still be trapped. Officials warn the toll could be as high as 240.

Linda Amantillo, the mother of a Filipino nurse who got trapped in the rubble of the Canterbury Television building, pleaded with officials not to stop the search.

“It pained me when I heard that they’ve stopped searching,” Amantillo said, her voice cracking. “I’ve never left the altar praying for a miracle.”

Her 23-year-old daughter Louise managed to briefly call and send text messages to her parents in the central Philippines shortly after the quake, saying she got buried and asking them to direct rescuers to her. She stopped sending messages after more than two hours.

Maurice Gardiner, whose sister was thought to be inside an office block that collapsed, said he accepted the official decision but that he had not given up all hope.

“Obviously I would like my sister back with us — at this stage it’s not to be,” he said. “They’ve said that miracles can happen, so I’m going along with what they say.”

More than 900 workers trained in disaster rescue and recovery rushed to Christchurch from several countries after the February 22 quake.

Jim Stuart-Black, the fire service chief said his teams would start using more heavy machinery to clear the debris, though they would continue to work carefully “to allow for that miracle”.

Among the missing and presumed dead are dozens of foreigners, most of them students and staff of an English language school that was in an office within the CTV building, which collapsed completely in the disaster.

Prime Minister John Key announced a national memorial service would be held in Christchurch, with the date to be set later.

Rescuers saved 70 people in the first 26 hours after the quake struck just before 1pm, but no one has been found alive since.

Of the 161 bodies recovered thus far, only 13 have been identified because the extent of injuries has made the process slow and painstaking, requiring DNA testing or dental records, officials say.