226 missing, 98 dead as rescue efforts continue

Christchurch (AP):

Rescuers fanned out into unchecked areas of New Zealand's quake-devastated city yesterday looking for any remaining life in the rubble, as the death toll rose to 98 with "grave fears" that many of the 226 missing are dead.

"Rescue team! Rescue team!" a visiting firefighter from Australia called out as his team went through an office building apparently abandoned during Tuesday's disaster in Christchurch. There was no response.

Police said up to 120 bodies may still lie trapped in the tangled concrete and steel that was the Canterbury Television or CTV building, where dozens of students from Japan, Thailand, China and other Asian countries were believed buried when an English-language school collapsed along with other offices. Twenty-three bodies were pulled from the building yesterday, but not immediately identified.

Appeal for patience

Officials appealed to families of the missing to be patient, saying the agony could be worse if they rushed the identifications and came to wrong conclusions.

The official death toll from the 6.3-magnitude temblor stood at 98, police Superintendent Dave Cliff said. An additional 226 people were listed as missing, and Prime Minister John Key said there were "grave fears" that many of them did not survive.

Among the confirmed dead were two infant boys, one 9 months old, the other 5 months, Cliff said. He did not give details of their deaths.