Yesterday the coroner held an inquest so that he could write death certificates for nine people who died during the earthquake on February 22nd. These nine have not been identified because their bodies were too badly burnt or damaged. All of them were in the CTV building. Four of them were Chinese students learning English at Kings Education. One was a student from the Philippines. Another was the director of studies at Kings Education. The other three worked for CTV.
The coroner had to be sure that they had died. He wanted evidence. One example of evidence was a witness who said he saw one of those people in the building just before the earthquake. The wedding ring of another person was found. One man who died had called a friend to say that he and a woman were trapped by rubble and they couldn’t move. His body was found but not hers.
Experts have identified 172 bodies, using fingerprints, photos, clothing, dental records and DNA. However, these nine bodies could not be identified. Now the coroner will write death certificates.
The inquest was a very sad time for the families.
Listen to March 20th 2011 for more about the process of identifying those who died during the earthquake.
Listen to Jan 28th 2011 to find out about the Pike River Coal Mine Inquest and why we need an inquest.
Vocabulary
Rubble – broken bricks, timber and other rubbish which fell during the earthquake
Questions
See the questions following January 28th and March 20th.