New Zealand quake death toll rises to 161

New Zealand quake death toll rises to 161

2011-03-03 15:56:32 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll following a strong earthquake that struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22 has risen to at least 161, police said on Thursday.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake at 12.51 p.m. local time on February 22 (2351 GMT February 21) was centered about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) southeast of Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand. It struck about 5 kilometers (3 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GeoNet), the country's seismological agency.

Acting Police District Commander Sam Hoyle confirmed on Thursday that the number of fatalities has increased to 161 with the recovery of a body overnight. Of the 161, 90 were found in the city's CTV building, 14 in the PGC building and the remainder from other locations around the city.

Hoyle said police were meeting with families daily and families have also met with USAR, Coronial and DVI team representatives and provided them with as much information as possible to help them understand the identification process.

"We fully understand the necessity of providing families with information and explaining why we have to be sure we have the correct identities of those who have died," Hoyle said.

Since Wednesday, the coroner has released seven more bodies the families. Police also confirmed that two men from Israel are among the deaths. They were identified as 22-year-old Ofer Levy and 23-year-old Gabi Moshe Ingel.

"There are still around 200 people missing. There may still be some names not on the list and there may be some names on the list where those people are alive and well. We have seven detectives working fulltime on this list," Hoyle said, although most of the 200 people who are missing are believed to be the fatalities.

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