RESCUE SERVICE WORKERS in New Zealand are continuing to search for possible survivors of last week’s 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch.

The death toll from the disaster has risen to 145 and more than 200 people are still missing. Nobody has been rescued from the rubble since last Wednesday, RTÉ reports.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said that it is still “seriously concerned” about a missing Irish person; 40-year-old John Joe O’Connor from Abbeydorney, Co Kerry, was working as an accountant at the collapsed Pyne Gould Corporation Building.

However rescue teams remain hopeful: the Irish Times quotes British team leader Peter Crook, who told the media upon his arrival “It’s still a rescue operation, we’ve pulled people out five to six days later [after previous earthquakes]“.

A civil defence spokesman confirmed that one body was discovered in the building over the past day.

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Rescue efforts continue in Christchurch as death toll reaches 145

Making a difference

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