Christchurch – Early this morning Rabbi Shmuel Koppel the Chabad Rabbi of Otago, New Zealand gave an exclusive interview in New York to VIN News.
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Rabbi Koppel who is visiting the U.S., speaks about the effects of the earthquake has had on the Jewish community.
http://www.chabadnz.org/for anyone who wants to help rebuild.
Meanwhile Haaretz is reporting today that Thirty Israelis in New Zealand remain unaccounted for, Israel’s consul in Wellington, Teddy Poplinger, said yesterday. He said there is particular concern for three or four of them who were seen in Christchurch at the time of the Tuesday’s earthquake.
“We have a list of Israelis in the area, but we believe most of them were not in Christchurch at the time of the earthquake. We mainly want to make sure that they all contact their families,” Poplinger said.
“We are trying with the authorities’ help to locate three or four Israelis who were in town when the quake hit,” he added.
The AP:
Rescuers fanned out into unchecked areas of New Zealand’s quake-devastated city Thursday looking for any remaining life in the rubble, as the death toll rose to 98 with “grave fears” that many of the 226 missing are dead.
“Rescue team! Rescue team!” a visiting firefighter from Australia called out as his team went through an office building apparently abandoned during Tuesday’s disaster in Christchurch. There was no response.
Police said up to 120 bodies may still lie trapped in the tangled concrete and steel that was the Canterbury Television or CTV building, where dozens of students from Japan, Thailand, China and other Asian countries were believed buried when an English-language school collapsed along with other offices. Twenty-three bodies were pulled from the building Thursday, but not immediately identified.
We shouldn’t poskin that this was divine retribution for NZ’s banning of shechita.