Earthquake: Malaysian woman reported missing in Christchurch

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KUALA LUMPUR: Search efforts to find a Malaysian woman who was reported missing in Christchurch, New Zealand following earthquakes last Tuesday are still ongoing.

According to Ayauf Bachi, chief of the Malaysian operations room in Chirstchurch, they received reports on the missing woman from her friends on the day of the incident.

The family of the woman, who is in her 30s, originating from Sarawak, has
been informed of her disappearance, he told Bernama when contacted on the latest information on Malaysians there.

He said the New Zealand Civil Defence team, which heads the search and rescue operations, has also been informed of the missing woman who works for a private company in the
city.

Ayauf, who is also the Foreign Ministry’s deputy chief of protocol, said there were 636 Malaysians in Christchurch, including 390 students, and they have held meetings with about 40 students yesterday to find out what kind of assistance is needed. The earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale last Tuesday, has caused the death of 98 people, while 300 others were reported missing.

It is the worst to hit New Zealand since a major earthquake of 7.8 magnitude took the lives of 256 people in Hawke’s Bay in 1931.

An earthquake in September last year measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale destroyed 100,000 homes but no lives were lost. — Bernama