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24 February 2011
Last updated at 07:25 ET
Two Britons died in the earthquake that devastated the New Zealand city of Christchurch, the Foreign Office says.
They are among 98 victims whose bodies were taken to a temporary mortuary and their next of kin have been informed. Some 226 people are still missing.
The earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 5km (3.1 miles) early in the afternoon on Tuesday, when the South Island city was at its busiest.
It was Christchurch's second major tremor in five months.
The authorities in the city say they are still carrying out a rescue operation and specialists are hunting for signs of life.
A British search-and-rescue team has recently landed in Christchurch, joining others from the US, Japan and Australia.
Its spokesman, Peter Crook, told the BBC his specialist unit was hoping to find survivors.
"We're two-and-a-half days into the earthquake now so that's when the window is starting to close for the most common rescues," he said.
"There is always a chance and the rescue effort will keep going for several days yet.
"History tells us that people can get rescued from the deepest, hardest places to find, sometimes five, six, seven, eight days after the earthquake."
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They are among 98 victims whose bodies were taken to a temporary mortuary and their next of kin have been informed. Some 226 people are still missing.
The earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 5km (3.1 miles) early in the afternoon on Tuesday, when the South Island city was at its busiest.
It was Christchurch's second major tremor in five months.
The authorities in the city say they are still carrying out a rescue operation and specialists are hunting for signs of life.
A British search-and-rescue team has recently landed in Christchurch, joining others from the US, Japan and Australia.
Its spokesman, Peter Crook, told the BBC his specialist unit was hoping to find survivors.
"We're two-and-a-half days into the earthquake now so that's when the window is starting to close for the most common rescues," he said.
"There is always a chance and the rescue effort will keep going for several days yet.
"History tells us that people can get rescued from the deepest, hardest places to find, sometimes five, six, seven, eight days after the earthquake."
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