Signs of life in Christchurch rubble
A rescue worker uses a thermal imaging camera to search for signs of life (Reuters: Simon Baker)
Rescuers scrambled to respond to reports of a voice calling from the rubble of earthquake-hit Christchurch this morning, just hours after New Zealand prime minister John Key said the focus was turning to body recovery.
Chief Superintendent Gary Pinken, who heads the New South Wales taskforce working in Christchurch, said there were signs of life in the rubble of a CBD building.
"Our teams have been retasked to a building in the centre of Christchurch where a voice has been heard, and it seems as though we may have another good news story before the day is out," he said.
The voice has reportedly been heard in the rubble of the Holy Cross Chapel off Cathedral Square.
But rescuers have warned that any recovery operation will be a delicate and slow process.
Australian rescuers working at the severely damaged Canterbury Television (CTV) building say they have heard scratching noises from under the rubble.
Deputy taskforce commander Peter Dawson, from Queensland, says it is possible there are survivors.
He says they are using audio equipment to work out where to search.
"Crews have indicated they may have picked up some slight scratching noises, but that's why we're continuing with that thorough audio search," he said.
The official death toll from Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake was given as 71 this morning, but no-one has been rescued from the rubble since yesterday afternoon.
Earlier Mr Key said rescue teams were now concentrating more on body recovery than rescuing survivors.
"I think the large reason why (emergency services) are describing this as more likely to be a recovery than a rescue is they're not getting positive signs that people are there," he said, referring to the prospect of survivors in the rubble.
"That does not mean that there can't and won't be people trapped in buildings," he told TV3.
"All over the world when we see disasters like this, we see miracle stories of people being pulled out, days and in some cases weeks after the event. We can't give up hope, but we also need to be realistic."
This morning search and rescue teams continued to fan out across the city in the desperate hunt for survivors.
Deputy prime minister Bill English has told ABC News Breakfast that authorities expect the number of people confirmed dead will increase.
"As the hours tick by, the possibility of people being found alive is dropping off," he said.
"The searchers on the ground are telling us there is still some chance there are survivors in there.
"There's been a figure of around 300 missing ... we would hope that over the next couple of days, as people report in, that number will drop."
Overnight, rescue teams worked under floodlights as they searched for survivors.
Search and rescue personnel have focused mainly on the Canterbury TV (CTV) building, with estimates that around 50 people may be in the rubble.
Police say people may still be alive in the CTV building, but the signs are not good because of a fire and the amount of rubble.
Urban search and rescue teams are using sniffer dogs, sound detectors, thermal imaging equipment and cameras to scour piles of rubble from other buildings.
Rescuers had been receiving text messages from four to six people in the Pyne Gould Guinness (PGG) building, but there was no further contact overnight. Rescuers say that could be because their mobile phone batteries may have gone flat.
Central district commander Superintendent Russell Gibson says the rescue and recovery operation will go on around the clock with the help of Australia and other countries.
"The rescue effort is progressing. It is a slow meticulous job. Unfortunately we haven't managed to find any more survivors overnight," he said.
"We have pulled a number of bodies out of some buildings but the work carries on and we are ever hopeful that we will find more survivors.
"[In the] early hours of this morning I was at the PGG building - it is all Aussies doing the search in there. They have been here two hours and then they were deployed into the field.
"The commander there was telling me he is very optimistic we are going to get some more survivors out of here.
"They tell me there are pockets between the floors, and provided the people haven't been crushed, there is no reason to suspect we won't get more out of there.
"So I think that is the one that we are most optimistic we are going to get more survivors out of."
Two Australian women were pulled alive from the rubble yesterday and this morning DFAT said it had concerns for one Australian who was still missing.
But a DFAT statement said: "Sadly, we need to prepare for the possibility of more Australian fatalities."
Residents in Christchurch and its surrounding suburbs spent another grim night camped in evacuation centres and local parks with little power or water as they wait for word on their loved ones trapped in some of the city's most iconic buildings
Civil defence minister John Carter says power had been restored to 60 per cent of the city but 80 per cent of Christchurch does not have water.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has described the destruction in the centre of Christchurch and its surrounding suburbs as massive.
In Sumner, huge boulders have rolled down hills destroying homes and killing some occupants.
According to Canterbury University geologist Mark Quigley, more boulders could be dislodged by the aftershocks and there is the risk of landslides.
Flooding due to liquefaction - water, sand, and silt bubbling up from within the earth - is also creating havoc.
- ABC/wires
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