New Zealand quake victims' families mourn

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - The sister and brother sat huddled yesterday on sodden grass, staring at the smoldering remains of an office tower that collapsed with their mother inside.

They hadn't heard from Donna Manning since a powerful earthquake tore through one of New Zealand's largest cities a day earlier, killing at least 76 people with about 300 still missing. Still, there was hope.

"My mum is superwoman, she'd do anything," Lizzy, 18, said, tears streaming down her face. Just then, a police officer approached and knelt in the rain before Lizzy and her brother Kent, 15. "I have some horrible news . . . " the officer began.

The teens' faces crumpled, and their father wrapped them in an embrace as the officer gently broke the news that their mother was presumed dead along with everyone else trapped in the building.

It was a dark moment that was repeated many times over yesterday as rescuers searched for any signs of life in the twisted rubble of Christchurch. Police say up to 120 bodies may still be inside the Canterbury Television building. That number includes foreign students at an English language school in the building.Troops, police and emergency workers raced against time and aftershocks that threatened to collapse more buildings. They picked gingerly through the ruins, poking heat-seeking cameras into gaps between tumbles of bricks and sending sniffer dogs over concrete slabs.

Teams rushed in from Australia, the United States, Britain, Japan and elsewhere in Asia, along with a military field hospital and workers to help repair damaged power, water and phone lines in all corners of the city of some 350,000 people.

The news was grim at the Canterbury Television building, a seven-story concrete-and-glass structure that housed the regional TV network where Manning was a morning anchorwoman. An English-language school used by young visitors from Japan and South Korea was also located there.

The heavy concrete floors lay piled atop one another. The central stairwell tower still stood, but leaned precariously.

"We don't believe this site is now survivable," police operations commander Inspector Dave Lawry said. Rescuers were shifting to less dangerous sites where there was more hope for survivors.

Canterbury TV chairman Nick Smith said 15 of his employees were still missing inside the collapsed building. Also missing were 10 Japanese language students from a group of at least 23 students and teachers who were believed in the building, said Teppei Asano, an official monitoring the situation.

Not far away, cheers erupted as rescuers pulled a woman from another crumpled office tower. Ann Bodkin was reunited with her husband after a painstaking rescue from the twisted metal and concrete remains of the Pyne Gould Guinness building.

Giant sunbeams burst through the city's gray, drizzly weather as she emerged. "They got Ann out of the building, and God turned on the lights," Mayor Bob Parker said.

Police Superintendent Russell Gibson said early today that the last survivor had been pulled out of that building at 2 p.m. yesterday, and no one had been found trapped in the rubble since.