New Zealand silent as quake-hit nation honours up to 240 dead

Church bells tolled throughout the country at 12.51pm local time to mark the start of a national commemoration for those lost when the quake struck the southern city of Christchurch, collapsing office blocks and sending bricks and other rubble tumbling into the streets.

Thousands of people across the city paused and bowed their heads.

Diggers and bulldozers tugging at the massive piles of rubble rumbled into silence and traffic stopped.

Flags flew at half-mast across the country and Prime Minister John Key asked the nation’s 4.5 million people to join in a show of unity for people “enduring tragedy beyond what most of us can imagine”.

Police say they have pulled 154 bodies from the wreckage and the number of others missing and feared dead indicated a final death toll higher than previously thought.

“The figure ... of around 240 is solidifying,” said Superintendent Dave Cliff.

The magnitude 6.3 quake struck within a few miles of central Christchurch, when the city of 350,000 was bustling with workers, shoppers and tourists.

It brought down or badly damaged office towers, churches and thousands of homes across the city in one of New Zealand’s worst disasters.

More than 900 international urban disaster specialists were among hundreds more local officials continuing to pick through the wreckage yesterday.

No-one has been pulled out alive since the day after the quake and officials say it is almost certain no-one else will be.

“Realistically it would be a miracle if we encountered anyone at this stage on any of the sites which we are currently working on,” said Jim Steward-Black, co-ordinator of the New Zealand urban search and rescue teams.

Yesterday, people left offices, warehouses, factories and homes and stood in the street in silence.

At one of Christchurch’s busiest junctions, traffic halted in the shadow of the Knox Church and the historic Carlton Hotel, both ruined in the quake.

“I was born here, I’ve lived here all my life and I’ll die here. It’s my home and it hurts so much to see it in this way,” said Mike Cochrane, fighting back tears as he sat under a tree on the central traffic island.

At the headquarters of the rescue effort, bustling in the past week with the vivid urgency of its mission, work paused for the first time. Mr Key, who grew up in Christchurch, joined the ceremony there, clutching the hand of his wife Bronagh, who was born in the city.

On Monday, a five-month-old boy who was the youngest known victim of the disaster was its first laid to rest. A second funeral, for 22-year-old local Jaime Gilbert, was held yesterday. With only six other people publicly identified so far, most funerals may not take place for some time.

Although of lower magnitude than last September’s quake, which killed no-one, the latest destructive tremors struck at shallow depth when the South Island city was at its busiest.