Earthquake in New Zealand city of Christchurch

New Zealand quake: 300 missing, 75 bodies recovered.

Three hundred people are missing and 75 bodies have been recovered from the quake ravaged New Zealand city of Christchurch, local authorities said Wednesday.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said there were now 55 identified bodies at a morgue, which had been set up at local military base. Another 20 bodies had been recovered, but were not yet at the morgue and had yet to be identified.

Parker said it was hoped that many of those 300 missing people would be accounted for over the course of the day.

Search and rescue staff also said many people remain trapped alive inside buildings destroyed by the 6.3-magnitude earthquake Tuesday afternoon.

More than 120 people had already been pulled from collapsed buildings as rescuers worked through the night under floodlights in the rain.

Search efforts are concentrating around 10 buildings, where it is feared more than 100 people could still be trapped. These included a number of Japanese students who had been studying English in Christchurch.

Fifteen people were confirmed alive in one building as rescuers tried to get to them as quickly as possible through tonnes of rubble.

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