Christchurch earthquake: 100 feared dead in building

Searchers in earthquake-devastated Christchurch are now looking for bodies rather than survivors from the wreckage of the Canterbury TV building, where up to 100 people are feared lost, police say.
The confirmed city-wide toll from Tuesday's lunchtime 6.3-magnitude quake still stands at 75, with 300 reported missing but police expect the death toll to climb.
Police yesterday said the destruction of the CTV building was "unsurvivable" and Canterbury police district commander Superintendent Dave Cliff gave the estimates of between 80 and more than 100 for those missing inside.
Rescue work at the site had been halted by safety concerns yesterday as the nearby Hotel Grand Chancellor threatened to collapse.
But police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett told NZPA this morning urban search and rescue teams (USAR) returned to the CTV building, but it was now a recovery operation rather than a rescue effort.
Fifteen CTV staff , four Filipino nurses and a number of Japanese students from a foreign language school that operated in the building are believed to be among those inside the destroyed CTV building.
About 200 USAR staff had found no more survivors in the central city since Ann Bodkin was rescued from the Pyne Gould Corporation building about 2.30pm yesterday, after being trapped for 26 hours.
Meanwhile, the 70m-high Hotel Grand Chancellor, one of the city's tallest buildings, remained standing overnight, despite a number of aftershocks, including a 4.1 magnitude shake just after midnight.
Reports yesterday said the hotel had slumped in one corner, prompting fears that should it collapse it could destroy surrounding buildings.
Twenty-two people are believed by police to have died in the collapse of ChristChurch Cathedral. Police dogs had been through the area of the 130-year-old city landmark and police were confident there were no survivors there.
Overnight 190 police officers enforced a central city curfew and it was quiet apart from rescue efforts, Ms Kennett said.
Yesterday there were six arrests for looting.
Search and rescue teams from Taiwan, Singapore were to arrive last night and join Australians already on the ground today.
US and UK teams are due to arrive today.
Overnight the Pope and the Dalai Lama extended their sympathy to the quake victims, joining other world leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II and Barack Obama offering their condolences.
The Government yesterday declared a national state of emergency for the first time, following what Prime Minister John Key described as the "death and destruction on a dreadful scale" of the quake.
Mr Key said Cabinet would today discuss funding strategies for quake-affected people, and as with the September 4 quake, some sort of package was likely to be brought in.
The Crusaders have decided to withdraw from this Saturday's game against the Hurricanes in Wellington, saying it was inappropriate in the wake of such a disaster.