Christchurch earthquake: British death toll rises to four

At least four Britons are now thought to have died in the earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, on Tuesday. The death toll stands at 148 and officials say 50 people are unaccounted for. Six victims have been formally identified, including Gregory Tobin, a 25-year-old chef from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire. Tobin had been on a round-the-world trip and is believed to have been working temporarily at a garage in Christchurch when the disaster struck. The Foreign Office had previously confirmed two British fatalities, both men. It said on Sunday it now understood at least four people had died, with another two injured and one missing. The UK high commission in New Zealand said two British nationals aged over 50 – a male tourist and a woman who lives in Christchurch – had been taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries sustained during the quake. The man was still in hospital and the woman had been discharged. Another British woman was discharged from hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack. Residents in Christchurch held open-air prayers, pictured right, for the dead and missing yesterday on the lawns of churches. A British search and rescue team is helping to search for more victims in the ruins, and pulled four bodies from the Pyne Gould Corporation building in the centre of the city. UK experts in identifying disaster victims are expected to arrive on Monday. Authorities have said that a third of the buildings in the centre of Christchurch are likely to be demolished after the 6.3-magnitude quake.