Off the wire
• Tokyo shares open higher amid growing chance of Clinton victory in U.S. election  • Drug that prevents premature birth in mice could be used on humans: Aussie study  • New Zealand aiming to become world leader in genomics  • Driverless cars could be used as terrorist weapons: Aussie police  • Spanish stock market rises 1.45 pct, closes at 8,918 points  • Dollar changes hands in mid-104 yen range in early Tokyo trading  • Cyber attack fears behind New Zealand training taskforce  • Danish firm picked to provide communications for New Zealand army  • Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Nov. 8  • Australian public vote on same-sex marriage defeated in Senate  
You are here: 　 Home

Christchurch quake victims honored in New Zealand memorial wall

Xinhua, November 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

The names of the 185 people who died in the earthquake that struck New Zealand's second city in February 2011 are now on public display.

The final inscribed marble panel on the front of Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial in Christchurch was placed Tuesday, Associate Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration Nicky Wagner said in a statement.

The Memorial Wall comprised 517 panels of Italian marble, which had been placed on a concrete base wall over the past two months, with the names of those who died inscribed on 21 panels.

"The memorial is significant because it gives us a chance to honor those who lost their lives during the earthquakes, the courage of the first responders, and remember the events that changed Canterbury forever," said Wagner.

The Christchurch City Council, the Ministry of Culture of Heritage and other agencies had worked closely with families, those who were severely injured and first responders through the development of the design for the memorial.

"I look forward to the completion of the wall in time for the sixth anniversary of the Feb. 22, 2011, earthquake next year," Wagner said.

Most of the 185 people killed in the 6.3-magnitude quake of February 2011 died in city-center CTV building when it collapsed and caught fire.

The 115 CTV victims included 64 Asian students studying at an English language school: 18 students from China, 28 from Japan, 10 from the Philippines, six from Thailand, two from the Republic of Korea.

New Zealand police are still investigating the collapse of the CTV building and police said in July that the investigation and any decisions on criminal culpability could be completed this year.

A report by the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission of Inquiry detailed how the six-storey CTV building, which was designed in 1986 and completed around 1988, had a "design that was deficient in a number of important respects" and should never have been issued with a construction permit because it failed to comply with building regulations. Endit